Drive Device

ABSTRACT

A drive apparatus of the present invention includes: a recording/reproduction section and a drive control section. The drive control section performs a process including: receiving a recording instruction including a location at which data is to be recorded; determining a track among at least one tracks corresponding to the location included in the recording instruction; controlling the recording/reproduction section to record data at a replacement location in the user data area instead of the location included in the recording instruction; determining whether or not the recording of the data at the replacement location in the user data area has succeeded; and when the recording of the data at the replacement location in the user data area has failed, controlling the recording/reproduction section to record the data at a location in the spare area.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a drive apparatus for recording data inan information recording media and for reproducing data recorded in theinformation recording media.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, various types of information recording mediums are used torecord digital data. For example, a rewritable optical disc or awrite-once optical disc is used. In the rewritable optical disc, datacan be rewritten repeatedly at the same location. In the write-onceoptical disc, data can be written only once at the same location, whileit is inexpensive.

As an example of rewritable optical discs, there are DVD-RAM discs andBD-RE (Blu-ray Disc Rewritable) discs and the like.

As an example of write-once optical discs, there are DVD-R discs andBD-R (Blu-ray Disc Recordable) discs and the like.

In the rewritable optical disc, a defective management mechanism isintroduced to improve the reliability of data recorded on the disc. Thedefective management mechanism includes a slipping replacement algorithmand a linear replacement algorithm.

The slipping replacement algorithm is mainly performed when the disc isformatted. In the slipping replacement algorithm, all of the ECCclusters in the user data area are checked for detecting a defectivecluster. When the defective cluster is found, the location of thedefective cluster is registered to a primary defect list (hereinafter,“PDL”). The logical cluster corresponding to the defective cluster isshifted such that the logical cluster corresponds to a physical clusterwhich is next to the physical cluster corresponding to the defectivecluster.

Thus, when the user data is recorded, it is possible to avoid recordingthe user data in the defective cluster registered in the PDL. As aresult, it is possible to improve the reliability of the data recording.

The linear replacement algorithm is performed when a user data isrecorded.

After the user data is recorded, a verify process is performed. In theverify process, the recording result is verified. If the data recordinghas failed, the ECC cluster including the recording location isdetermined as a defective cluster. Then, the location of the defectivecluster is managed by a secondary defect list (hereinafter, “SDL”).

The user data is recorded in the spare area which is located at theinner-most periphery or the outer-most periphery on the disc, instead ofthe defective cluster in the user data area.

The verify process described above is performed during the replacementrecording. If the data recording has succeeded, the location at whichthe user data is recorded is determined. An SDL entry which correlatesthe location of the defective cluster with an ECC cluster forreplacement is generated. Then, the SDL entry is registered to the SDL.

The SDL entry is provided for each of the all ECC clusters included inthe spare area. It is possible to manage whether or not each ECC clusterin the spare area is available as a replacement cluster. If the ECCcluster is an unrecorded area in the spare area, then the ECC cluster isavailable as a replacement cluster. If the ECC cluster is a recordedarea in the spare area, then the ECC cluster is not available as areplacement cluster. The unrecorded area in the spare area is alsocalled a spare cluster.

In the reproduction process, by referring to the PDL and the SDL, ifnecessary, the data is reproduced from the replacement cluster.

The PDL and the SDL are recorded in a defect management area(hereinafter, “DMA”) provided in the lead-in area on the disc. In theDMA, information indicating the size of the spare area and the like isfurther recorded.

In the rewritable optical disc, the information on the defectivemanagement is updated by rewriting the DMA.

In the write-once optical disc, it is possible to introduce a defectivemanagement mechanism, for example, as described in the specification ofU.S. laid-open patent publication No. 2004/0076096 (hereinafter,“reference 1”).

FIG. 3 of the reference 1 shows a data structure of the disc. In thedisc of the reference 1, the DMA is provided in the lead-in area and thelead-out area.

Further, a temporary defect management area (hereinafter, “TDMA”) isprovided in the lead-in area and the lead-out area.

In the write-once optical disc, the information on the defectivemanagement is updated by additionally recording defective information inthe TDMA each time the defective information is updated.

When the disc is closed or finalized, the data in the latest TDMA isrecorded in the DMA.

In the TDMA, temporary defect management information (hereinafter,“TDDS”) and temporary defect information (hereinafter, “TDFL”) arerecorded.

FIG. 5B of the reference 1 shows a data structure of the TDDS. The TDDSincludes pointer information to the TDFL. The TDFL can be recorded inthe TDMA a plurality of times. The pointer information is recorded forthe respective TDFLs.

In the TDDS, a last recorded address on the write-once optical disc isrecorded. As shown in FIG. 5B of the reference 1, a single write-onceoptical disc can have a plurality of last recorded addresses.

In the TDDS, a last recorded replacement address on the write-onceoptical disc is recorded. As shown in FIG. 5B of the reference 1, asingle write-once optical disc can have a plurality of last recordedreplacement addresses.

FIG. 6 of the reference 1 shows a data structure of the TDFL.

The TDFL includes information regarding defect #1, #2, . . . and thelike.

The information regarding defect includes status information, a pointerto the defective cluster and a pointer to the replacement cluster.

The information regarding defect has a data structure similar to the SDLentry included in the SDL. The information regarding defect performs afunction similar to the SDL entry.

FIGS. 33A and 33B show a method for updating the TDFL disclosed in FIG.9A and FIG. 9B of the reference 1.

FIG. 33A shows a data structure of the TDFL #0. The TDFL #0 includes theinformation regarding defect #1, #2 and #3 corresponding to the defects#1, #2 and #3.

After the TDFL #0 is recorded, it is assumed that the defects #4 and #5are detected as a result of performing a new data recording. In thiscase, the TDFL #1 shown in FIG. 33B is recorded on the write-onceoptical disc.

The TDFL #1 is generated by maintaining the information regarding defect#1, #2 and #3 included in the TDFL #0 and adding the informationregarding defect #4 and #5 corresponding to the defects #4 and #5.

FIG. 10 of the reference 1 shows a data structure of the informationregarding defect.

The information regarding defect includes status information. The statusinformation includes information indicating that the defective area is acontinuous defect block or a single defect block.

The information regarding defect further includes a pointer to thedefective area (the location of the defective area on the disc).

The information regarding defect further includes a pointer to thereplacement area corresponding to the defective area.

When the defective area is a continuous defect block, the statusinformation indicates that a pointer to the defective area designates astart location of the continuous defect block or an end location of thecontinuous defect block. In this case, the status information furtherindicates that a pointer to the replacement area designates a startlocation of the replacement block or an end location of the replacementblock.

By using these data structures, the defective management mechanism canbe implemented in the write-once optical disc.

Further, by using the defective management mechanism described above, itis possible to implement a pseudo-overwrite recording for the write-onceoptical disc.

With reference to FIGS. 31 and 32, the pseudo-overwrite recording forthe write-once optical disc will be described.

As described above, in the defective management mechanism, by using thereplacement information such as the information regarding defect or theSDL entry, the physical address at which the data is actually recordedis mapped to another location which is previously allocated, withoutchanging the logical address at which the data is recorded.

When it is instructed to record data at a logical address at which thedata has already been recorded on the write-once optical disc, the datais recorded in a sector located at a physical address which is differentfrom the physical address corresponding to the logical address, and thereplacement information is updated to maintain the logical address.According to this process, it is possible to overwrite data in a pseudomanner. Hereinafter, such data recording is referred to as apseudo-overwrite recording.

FIG. 31 shows a data structure after directories and files are recordedin the information recording medium 1 which is a write-once opticaldisc. In the state shown in FIG. 31, it is assumed that thepseudo-overwrite recording has not been performed.

In the write-once optical disc, the user data area on the disc ismanaged as a unit of track or session.

In FIG. 31, the user data recorded in the user data area is managed by afile system. A space managed by the file system is referred to as avolume space 2.

In the description below, it is assumed that information recorded in theinformation recording medium 1 as the volume/file structure of the filesystem (e.g. descriptor, pointer, metadata partition and metadata file)has a data structure defined in the ISO/IEC 13346 standard or the UDF(Universal Disc Format) specification, unless it is explicitly describedon the contrary.

In FIG. 31, a volume structure area 3 and a physical partition 4 arerecorded in the volume space 2.

In the physical partition 4, metadata partitions 5 a, 5 b defined byversion 2.5 of the UDF specification are included.

In the physical partition 4, metadata file 6 a and metadata mirror file6 b which is the duplication of the metadata file 6 a are recorded.

FE (metadata file) 7 a and FE (metadata mirror file) 7 b, each being afile entry (FE) indicating the recording location in the physicalpartition 4, are recorded. Further, data file (File-a) 8 and data file(File-b) 9 are also recorded.

All information on the file structure such as a file entry and directoryfile is allocated in the metadata partition, i.e. the metadata file.

In the data structure defined in the UDF specification, the respectiverecording locations of the metadata partition 5 a and the file setdescriptor (FSD) 12 are recorded in the volume structure area 3.

By retrieving the file structure from the ROOT directory using the FSD12 as a start point, it is possible to access data file (File-a) 8, forexample.

Next, in the state shown in FIG. 31, it is assumed that thepseudo-overwrite recording for data file (File-c) is performed.

FIG. 32 shows a data structure after the pseudo-overwrite recording fordata file (File-c) is completed.

Herein, it is assumed that the data file (File-c) is recordedimmediately under the ROOT directory on the information recording medium1.

During recording the data file (File-c), the required information on thefile structure is updated or generated in order to add the data file(File-c). Specifically, FE (ROOT) 13 is updated and FE (File-c) 14 isgenerated, for example.

The data file (File-c) 15 is recorded in an unrecorded area shown inFIG. 31. FIG. 32 shows a state at this time.

When the FE (File-c) 14 is recorded, the FE (File-c) 14 is recorded inthe unrecorded area 11 a in the metadata partition 5 a (i.e. themetadata file 6 a).

Next, the pseudo-overwrite recording is performed as if the FE (ROOT) 16would be overwritten on the FE (ROOT) 13.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 32, the data for the FE (ROOT) 16 isrecorded in the spare area 17.

Further, the replacement information included in the disc managementinformation 2 is updated such that the FE (ROOT) 13 is mapped to the FE(ROOT) 16.

After performing the recording process for files, a reproductionoperation for reproducing the data file (File-c) 15 will be described.

The location information of FE (metadata file) 7 a and the locationinformation of FSD 12 are obtained from the volume structure area 3 ofthe information recording medium 1.

Next, the file structure is reproduced. In order to reproduce the filestructure, the FSD 12 is reproduced based on the location information ofFE (metadata file) 7 a and the location information of FSD 12.

The location information of the FE (ROOT) 13 is obtained as a logicaladdress from the reproduced FSD 12.

The FE (ROOT) 13 is reproduced based on the location information of theFE (ROOT) 13.

By referring to the replacement information, the FE (ROOT) 16, to whichthe FE (ROOT) 13 is mapped, is reproduced.

The FE (ROOT) 16 includes the latest ROOT directory file. Accordingly,the FE (ROOT) 16 includes the location information of the FE (File-c)14.

The data file (File-c) 15 is reproduced using the location informationof the data file (File-c) 15 which is obtained from the FE (File-c) 14.

Thus, in the write-once optical disc, it is possible to perform apseudo-overwrite recording using the defective management mechanism.

However, according to the pseudo-overwrite recording for the write-onceoptical disc described above, there is a problem that if there is nounrecorded area in the spare area, it is not possible to further performthe data recording even if there is an unrecorded area in the user dataarea. This is because it is not possible to update file systeminformation.

In particular, in the write-once optical disc, the size of the sparearea is fixed at the time when the disc is formatted (initialized),unlike the rewritable optical disc in which the size of the spare areacan be extended if required.

It is difficult to determine the size of the spare area appropriately inview of the pseudo-overwrite recording which may be performed in thefuture.

If the size of the spare area is determined as a relatively large size,the size of the user data area must be reduced. If the size of the sparearea is determined as a relatively small size, a problem may be caused.The problem is that it is not possible to further perform the datarecording even if there is an unrecorded area in the user data area. Ineither case, it is not possible to effectively utilize the user dataarea of the write-once optical disc.

The present invention is intended to solve the problem described above.One of the purposes of the present invention is to provide a driveapparatus capable of utilizing the user data area without any loss inthe pseudo-overwrite recording for the write-once optical disc.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a driveapparatus capable of utilizing the user data area without any loss inthe pseudo-overwrite recording for the write-once optical disc.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, a drive apparatus is providedfor performing a pseudo-overwrite recording for a write-once recordingmedium, wherein the write-once recording medium includes a spare areaand a user data area, at least one track are allocated in the user dataarea. The drive apparatus includes: a recording/reproduction section forperforming a recording operation or a reproduction operation for thewrite-once recording medium; and a drive control section for controllingthe recording/reproduction section, wherein the drive control sectionperforms a process including: receiving a recording instructionincluding a location at which data is to be recorded; determining atrack among at least one tracks corresponding to the location includedin the recording instruction; controlling the recording/reproductionsection to record data at a replacement location in the user data areainstead of the location included in the recording instruction;determining whether or not the recording of the data at the replacementlocation in the user data area has succeeded; and when the recording ofthe data at the replacement location in the user data area has failed,controlling the recording/reproduction section to record the data at alocation in the spare area.

In one embodiment of the invention, the drive control section performs aprocess further including: determining whether or not the recording ofthe data at the location in the spare area has succeeded; and when therecording of the data at the location in the spare area has failed,controlling the recording/reproduction section to record the data in thespare area until the recording of the data in the spare area hassucceeded.

In one embodiment of the invention, the determined track is an opentrack.

In one embodiment of the invention, the determined track is a closedtrack having an unrecorded area.

According to another aspect of the invention, a drive apparatus isprovided for performing a pseudo-overwrite recording for a write-oncerecording medium, wherein the write-once recording medium includes aspare area and a user data area. The drive apparatus includes: arecording/reproduction section for performing a recording operation or areproduction operation for the write-once recording medium; and a drivecontrol section for controlling the recording/reproduction section,wherein the drive control section performs a process including:generating replacement management information including an originallocation and a replacement location; and controlling therecording/reproduction section to record the replacement managementinformation in the write-once recording medium, wherein: when thereplacement for the purpose of the pseudo-overwrite recording occurs,the drive control section sets a first range of value to the replacementlocation of the replacement management information; and when thereplacement for the purpose of recording due to defect occurs, the drivecontrol section sets a second range of value to the replacement locationof the replacement management information.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first range is a range of theuser data area, and the second range is a range of the spare area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an illustrative diagram showing an appearance of informationrecording medium 100 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1B is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the information recording medium 100 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 1C is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the user data area 108 shown in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 2A is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the session management information 200 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2B is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the track management information 210 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2C is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the space bitmap management information 220 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structure ofthe disc structure information 1110 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structure ofthe information recording medium 100 b according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5A is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the replacement management information list 1000 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the replacement management information 1010 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of theinformation recording/reproduction apparatus 300 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structure ofthe information recording medium after the formatting process accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A is a flowchart showing a recording process according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8B is a flowchart showing a RMW process according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structure ofthe information recording medium after the recording process accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a reproduction process according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the replacement management information 1010B according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the physical address space and the logical address space according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the DFL entry 2010 which is an example of the replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19A is a flowchart showing a recording process according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19B is a flowchart showing a recording process according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the track management information according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 26A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26B is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the information recording medium according to the conventionaltechnique.

FIG. 32 is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the information recording medium after the file recording processaccording to the conventional technique.

FIG. 33A is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the TDFL according to the conventional technique.

FIG. 33B is an illustrative diagram showing an exemplary data structureof the TDFL according to the conventional technique.

FIG. 34 is a flow chart showing a recording process according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 35A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 36A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 37A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 37B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 38A is an illustrative diagram related to replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 38B is an illustrative diagram related to replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 39A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 39B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 40A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 41A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 41B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 42A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 42B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing a recording process according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 44A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 45A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 45B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 46A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 46B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 47 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 48 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 49A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 50A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 51A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 51B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 52A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 52B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 53A is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 53B is an illustrative diagram showing replacement managementinformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 54 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 55 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 56 is an illustrative diagram showing a replacement recordingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

-   -   100, 100 b information recording medium    -   101 lead-in area    -   102, 102 a data area    -   103 lead-out area    -   103 b, 103 c outer area    -   104, 105 disc management information area    -   104 a, 105 a disc management information area    -   106, 106 a inner spare area    -   107, 107 a outer spare area    -   108, 108 a user data area    -   109 volume space    -   122 unrecorded area    -   120, 121 LRA    -   210 track management information    -   211 session start information    -   212 track start location information    -   213 last recorded address information within track (LRA)    -   300 information recording/reproduction apparatus    -   301 system control section    -   302 memory circuit    -   303 I/O bus    -   304 magnetic disc apparatus    -   310 drive apparatus    -   311 drive control section

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1

1-1. Write-Once Recording Medium

FIG. 1A shows an appearance of information recording medium 100according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A lead-in area 101 is located in an inner-most periphery of theinformation recording medium 100. A lead-out area 103 is located in anouter-most periphery of the information recording medium 100. A dataarea 102 is located between the lead-in area 101 and the lead-out area103 of the information recording medium 100.

In the lead-in area 101, reference information necessary for an opticalpickup included in the recording/reproduction section 314 which will bedescribed below to access the information recording medium 100,information for identifying from other recording media, and the like arerecorded. In the lead-out area 103, similar information as those in thelead-in area 101 is recorded.

A plurality of physical sectors are assigned to the lead-in area 101,the data area 102 and the lead-out area 103. Each physical sector is aminimum access unit. Each physical sector is identified by an addressinformation such as a physical sector number (hereinafter, “PSN”).

The data recording/reproduction is performed for each ECC cluster (oreach ECC block) including a plurality of physical sectors. An ECCcluster (or an ECC block) is a minimum unit for the datarecording/reproduction.

FIG. 1B shows a data structure of the information recording medium 100.In FIG. 1B, the lead-in area 101, the data area 102 and the lead-outarea 103 are shown in a lateral arrangement, although they are actuallyarranged in a concentric circular manner as shown in FIG. 1A.

The lead-in area 101 includes a disc management information area 104.The lead-out area 103 includes a disc management information area 105.Disc management information is recorded in each of the disc managementinformation areas 104 and 105. The disc management information includesreplacement management information, session management information, andspace bitmap management information. This information will be describedbelow. The disc management information areas 104 and 105 are used as anarea for updating the disc management information. The area for updatingthe disc management information is also referred to as a temporal discmanagement information area.

In a case where the present invention is applied to the BD-Rspecification, the term “disc management information area” in thepresent specification should be read as a “Disc Management Area (DMA)”,the term “temporal disc management information area” in the presentspecification should be read as a “Temporal Disc Management Area(TDMA)”, the term “disc management information” in the presentspecification should be read as a “Disc Management Structure (DMS)” andthe term “temporal disc management information” in the presentspecification should be read as a “Temporal Disc Management Structure(TDMS)”.

The data area 102 includes an inner spare area 106, a user data area 108and an outer spare area 107.

The user data area 108 is an area used for recording a user data.

FIG. 1C shows a data structure of the user data area 108.

The user data area 108 includes a plurality of sessions. Each sessionincludes a plurality of tracks.

Each track is a contiguous area on the information recording medium 100.Each track is managed by track management information which will bedescribed below.

In a case where the present invention is applied to the BD-Rspecification, the term “track” in the present specification should beread as a “Sequential Recording Range” (hereinafter, “SRR”).

Each session includes a plurality of tracks which are contiguouslyallocated on the information recording medium 100. Each session ismanaged by session management information which will be described below.

FIG. 2A shows a data structure of the session management information 200for managing the session. The session management information 200 isincluded in the disc management information.

The session management information 200 includes header information 201and a plurality of track management information.

The header information 201 includes general information such as anidentifier of the session management information 200 and the number ofthe track management information 210 shown in FIG. 2B.

The track management information #N contains information correspondingto the track #N shown in FIG. 1C, where N denotes an integer greaterthan or equal to 1.

FIG. 2B shows a data structure of the track management information 210for managing the track. The track management information 210 is includedin the disc management information.

The track management information 210 includes session start information211 which indicates whether or not the track is a leading track of thesession, track start location information 212 which indicates a startlocation of the track, and last recorded address information withintrack 213 which indicates a location at which data has been lastlyrecorded within the track. Hereinafter, the last recorded addressinformation within track 213 is referred to as LRA 213.

If the track managed by the track management information is 210 locatedat a leading position of the session, a value (e.g. “1”) indicating thatthe track is located at a leading position of the session is set tosession start information 211. Otherwise, a different value (e.g. “0”)is set to session start information 211.

The track start location information 212 includes a physical addressindicating a start location of the track.

The LRA 213 includes a physical address indicating a location at whichvalid data has been lastly recorded within the track. Valid data maybe,for example, user data supplied from the host apparatus 305. The LRA 120and the LRA 121 shown in FIG. 1C are an example of the LRA 213.

In the case where the present invention is applied to the BD-Rspecification, the term “track management information” in the presentspecification should be read as a “Sequential Recording Range Entry (SRREntry)” and the term “session management information” in the presentspecification should be read as a “Sequential Recording RangeInformation”.

In the case where the data recording is performed for each ECC clusteras a minimum unit on the information recording medium 100, the locationindicated by the LRA 213 does not always match the boundary of ECCclusters.

In general, the size of data specified by the recording instruction doesnot match multiple integral of the size of one ECC cluster. In thiscase, the LRA 213 indicates an address of the last physical sector amongthe physical sectors in which the data specified by the recordinginstruction is recorded.

If the location indicated by the LRA 213 does not match the boundary ofECC clusters, padding data is recorded after the valid data so that theend of the recorded data can match the boundary of ECC clusters.

In the present embodiment, the data recording can be performed for eachtrack. In this case, the recording of new data is started from a leadingposition of each track, and the new data is contiguously recorded withinthe track (a sequential recording). When the data recording is performedfor a track, the location at which the data has been lastly recordedwithin the track is reflected to the LRA 213.

When the data recording is re-started within the track, a value of theLRA 213 is checked. By checking the value of the LRA 213, it is possibleto determine a next writable address within the track.

In the case where no data is recorded within the track (e.g. immediatelyafter the track is allocated), a predetermined value (e.g. “0”)indicating such a status can be set to the LRA 213.

In general, a next writable address (hereinafter, “NWA”) indicates alocation of a physical sector which is next to the physical sectorindicated by the LRA 213. Alternatively, in the case where the datarecording is performed for each ECC cluster as a minimum unit on theinformation recording medium 100, the NWA indicates a location of aleading position of an ECC cluster which is next to the ECC clusterincluding the physical sector indicated by the LRA 213.

The location of the NWA is calculated according to Expression (1) below.

(a) When LRA≠0

NWA=N×(Floor(LRA/N)+1)

-   -   N: the number of the physical sectors included in each ECC        cluster (for example, N=32).

(b) When LRA=0

NWA=(start location of the corresponding track)

-   -   where Floor(x) represents the largest integer number=x

Hereinafter, it is assumed that the NWA indicates a leading position ofthe ECC cluster.

A track where it is possible to record data is referred to as an opentrack.

The track number of the open track is included in the header information201 of the session management information 200 shown in FIG. 2A (forexample, a first open track number 203, a second open track number 204,etc.).

Any track other than the open track is referred to as a closed track.

For example, a track which does not include any unrecorded area or atrack designated by a user can be a closed track.

Unlike the open track, the track number of the closed track is notstored in the header information 201 of the session managementinformation 200.

The data recording to any closed track is prohibited.

In the case where the present invention is applied to the BD-Rspecification, the term “open track” in the present specification shouldbe read as an “Open SRR” and the term “closed track” should be read as a“Closed SRR”.

By checking the open track number and the LRA 213 in the trackmanagement information 210, it is possible to determine an unrecordedarea on the information recording medium 100.

By managing the recorded clusters for the write-once type of theinformation recording medium 100, it is possible to perform a kind ofrandom recording (i.e. recording data at an arbitrary location (physicaladdress) on the information recording medium 100).

In order to realize such a random recording, it is necessary to manageunrecorded areas on the information recording medium 100 and to managethe last recorded address.

In the present embodiment, these managements are realized by utilizingthe space bitmap management information 220 shown in FIG. 2C and thedisc management information recorded in the disc management informationarea 104 and 105.

When the random recording is performed, the space bitmap managementinformation 220 shown in FIG. 2C is recorded in the disc managementinformation area 104.

FIG. 2C shows a data structure of space bitmap management information220. The space bitmap management information 220 includes headerinformation 221, managed area information 222 and space bitmapinformation 223.

The header information 221 includes general information such as anidentifier of the space bitmap management information 220.

The managed area information 222 includes information which specifies anarea in the user data area 108, wherein the recorded/unrecorded statusof a sector included in the area is managed by the space bitmapmanagement information 220. For example, the managed area information222 includes a start location of the area and a length of the area.

The space bitmap information 223 includes information indicating whethereach ECC cluster included in the area to be managed is a recorded ECCcluster or an unrecorded ECC cluster. For example, a single bit data isassigned to each ECC cluster, a predetermined value (e.g. “0”) is set tothe single bit data when the ECC cluster is an unrecorded ECC cluster,and a predetermined value (e.g. “1”) is set to the single bit data whenthe ECC cluster is a recorded ECC cluster. This makes it possible tomanage unrecorded areas for all ECC clusters in the area to be managed.

The disc management information recorded in the disc managementinformation area 104 includes disc structure information 1100 shown inFIG. 3. The disc structure information 1100 includes last recordedaddress information 1107. The last recorded address information 1107includes a physical address indicating a location at which data has beenlastly recorded within the user data area 108.

The disc structure information 1100 further includes general information1101 concerning an entire disc structure information 1100, replacementmanagement information list location information 1102 which indicateslocation information of the latest replacement management informationlist 1000 within the disc management information area 104, 105, userarea start location information 1103 which indicates a start location ofthe user data area 108, user area end location information 1104 whichindicates an end location of the user data area 108, disc managementinformation area size 1107 b, and spare area information 1105 and sparearea management information 1108 which indicates the size of the innerspare area 106 and the outer spare area 107 and an area available forreplacement.

By using the disc management information area size 1107 b, it ispossible to change the size of the disc management information area foreach information recording medium. Further, by using the disc managementinformation area size 1107 b, it is possible to change the temporal discmanagement information area described above in the inner spare area 106and the outer spare area 107.

By using the spare area information 1105, it is possible to change thesize of the spare area for each information recording medium. Forexample, it is possible to set the size of the inner spare area 106 orthe size of the outer spare area 107 to zero.

The spare area management information 1108 includes next availablelocation information indicating a next available location in the innerspare area 106 and the outer spare area 107.

In each spare area, a sequential recording is performed in the same wayin each track. The next available location in each spare area performsthe similar function as the NWA in each track. The recording of new datato each spare area is performed sequentially from the location indicatedby the next available location information.

The disc structure information 1100 further includes session managementinformation location information 1109 which indicates locationinformation of the latest session management information 200 in the discmanagement information areas 104 and 105, and space bitmap managementinformation location information 1110 which indicates locationinformation of the latest space bitmap management information 220 in thedisc management information areas 104 and 105.

As described above, by using the session management information 200 orthe space bitmap management information 220, it is possible to managethe status of unrecorded physical sectors on the information recordingmedium 100. Accordingly, it is possible to selectively use one of thesession management information 200 and the space bitmap managementinformation 220 for its purposes. Alternatively, it is possible to useboth information. The information concerning a method for managingunrecorded areas is included in the recording mode information 1106 ofthe disc structure information 1100.

The disc management information area 105 is an extended area which isused to record duplication of the disc management information recordedin the disc management information area 104 or is used to record theinformation which cannot be recorded in the disc management informationarea 104 in updating the disc management information. Hereinafter, thedetailed description of the disc management information area 105 will beomitted. This is similar to the temporal disc management informationrecorded in the spare area.

In the example shown in FIG. 1C, the user data recorded in the user dataarea 108 is managed by a file system. A space managed by the file systemis referred to as a volume space 109.

A plurality of logical sectors are assigned to the volume space 109.Each logical sector is identified by address information such as alogical sector number (hereinafter, “LSN”).

In the description below, it is assumed that information recorded in theinformation recording medium 100 as the volume/file structure of thefile system (e.g. descriptor, pointer, metadata partition and metadatafile) has a data structure defined in the ISO/IEC 13346 standard or theUDF (Universal Disc Format) specification, unless it is explicitlydescribed on the contrary. Of course, it is possible to use a filesystem other than those described above.

The information recording medium 100 shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C isdescribed as an information recording medium having a single recordinglayer. However, the information recording medium 100 may have two ormore recording layers.

FIG. 4 shows a data structure of an information recording medium 100 bhaving two recording layers.

In FIG. 4, L0 denotes a first layer and L1 denotes a second layer. Eachof the first and second layers has almost the same structure as theinformation recording medium 100. Specifically, the lead-in area 101 islocated in an inner-most periphery of the first layer and the lead-outarea 103 a is located in an inner-most periphery of the second layer.Further, the outer area 103 b is located in an outer-most periphery ofthe first layer and the outer area 103 c is located in an outer-mostperiphery of the second layer. The lead-in area 101, the outer area 103b, the lead-out area 103 a and the outer area 103 c includes a discmanagement information area 104, 105, 104 a and 105 a, respectively.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the spare areas 106, 106 a, 107 and 107 aare provided. As described above, it is possible to change the size ofeach spare area for each information recording medium. It is alsopossible to provide an additional temporal disc management informationarea in each spare area. The user data areas 108 and 108 a are logicallytreated as a single volume space having contiguous logical addresses.

Thus, it is possible to logically treat an information recording mediumhaving a plurality of recording layers as an information recordingmedium having a single recording layer. Hereinafter, an informationrecording medium having a single recording layer is described. It ispossible to apply the description of the information recording mediumhaving a single recording layer to an information recording mediumhaving a plurality of recording layers. Therefore, an informationrecording medium having a plurality of recording layers is referred toonly when a special description is required.

1-2. Pseudo-Overwrite Recording

The replacement information is described with reference to FIGS. 5A and5B.

The replacement information is defined as a replacement managementinformation list (or a defect list) including replacement managementinformation (or a defect list entry). The replacement managementinformation (or the defect list entry) includes original locationinformation indicating a location of a cluster in which a defect occurson the information recording medium (i.e. a defective cluster) andreplacement location information indicating a location of a replacementcluster which is used instead of the defective cluster.

The present invention enables recording a replacement cluster in theuser data area.

Further, the present invention realizes a pseudo-overwrite recording ona write-once information recording medium using the replacementinformation.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the data area 102 includes the inner spare area106, the user data area 108 and the outer spare area 107.

At least a part of the inner spare area 106 and the outer spare area 107is used as an area for replacement recording of the data to be recordedin the user data area 108.

For example, when there exists a defective cluster in the user data area108, at least a part of the inner spare area 106 and the outer sparearea 107 is used as an area for recording a replacement cluster withwhich the defective cluster is replaced.

Alternatively, at least a part of the inner spare area 106 and the outerspare area 107 can be used as an area for recording the updated data inthe pseudo-overwrite recording described below.

The replacement recording, which is the combination of the replacementinformation with the spare area, is performed as well as a verifyprocess.

The verify process is a process including the steps of reproducing dataimmediately after the data is recorded, comparing the reproduced datawith the recorded data and determining whether or not the data isrecorded correctly based on the comparison result. Such a processincluding these steps is called a verify-after-write process.

When an error occurs during the verify process (i.e. it is determinedthat the data is not recorded correctly), a replacement recording isperformed. Specifically, the defective cluster is replaced by areplacement cluster and the data is recorded in the replacement cluster.

The replacement cluster is recorded in the inner spare area 106 (or theouter spare area 107) or the user data area 108.

The pseudo-overwrite recording is defined as a method for mapping aphysical address at which the data is actually recorded to anotherphysical address, such that it can be seen as if the logical address atwhich the data is recorded is not changed.

When the overwrite of new data is instructed to a logical address atwhich data is recorded, a physical address corresponding to the logicaladdress is replaced by a separate physical address and the new data iswritten into an ECC cluster on the separate physical address. Then, theECC cluster before overwrite is mapped to the ECC cluster (replacementcluster) in which the new data is recorded.

The replacement cluster used in the pseudo-overwrite recording isrecorded in the spare area or the user data area.

As the replacement information for performing such a mapping process,the replacement management information list 1000 shown in FIG. 5A isused.

By performing such a mapping process, it is possible to realize that itcan be seen as if the data is overwritten, although the data is notactually overwritten. Hereinafter, this recording method is referred toas a pseudo-overwrite recording.

FIG. 5A shows a data structure of a replacement management informationlist 1000 which is replacement information according to the presentinvention. The replacement management information list 1000 is used tomap the location of the defective cluster to the location of thereplacement cluster. The replacement management information list 1000includes header information 1001 and a plurality of replacementmanagement information 1010 (e.g. replacement management information #1,#2, #3 . . . ).

The header information 1001 includes the number of the replacementmanagement information included in the replacement managementinformation list 1000. The replacement management information includesinformation indicating the mapping described above.

FIG. 5B shows a data structure of the replacement management information1010. The replacement management information 1010 includes statusinformation 1011, original location information 1012 and replacementlocation information 1013.

The status information 1011 includes status information concerning themapping described above. For example, the status information indicates atype or an attribute of the replacement management information 1010, thevalid/invalid status of the original location information 1012 and thereplacement location information 1013 and like.

The original location information 1012 indicates a location of originalinformation (e.g. a defective cluster).

The replacement location information 1013 indicates a location ofreplacement information (e.g. a replacement cluster).

In the pseudo-overwrite recording, the location of the ECC clusterbefore overwrite is indicated by the original location information 1012,and the location of the ECC cluster after overwrite is indicated by thereplacement location information 1013. Thus, the location of the ECCcluster before overwrite is mapped to the location of the ECC clusterafter overwrite.

Herein, the original location 1012 and the replacement locationinformation 1013 registered in the replacement management information1010 may be represented by a physical address (e.g. PSN) of the firstsector in the corresponding ECC cluster. This is because a mapping isperformed as a unit of ECC cluster in the defective management and thepseudo-overwrite recording.

In the conventional linear replacement method, the replacement clusteris recorded in the spare area. Accordingly, in every case, theinformation indicating a location of the ECC cluster in the spare areais set to the replacement location information 1013.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the location at which thereplacement cluster can be recorded is not limited to the location inthe spare area. It is possible to record the replacement cluster in theuser data area. Accordingly, the information indicating a location ofthe ECC cluster in the spare area or the information indicating alocation of the ECC cluster in the user data area may be set to thereplacement location information 1013.

Thus, the replacement location information 1013 may indicate a locationof the ECC cluster recorded in one of two areas (i.e. the spare area andthe user data area). In order to determine whether the replacementlocation information 1013 indicates a location of the ECC cluster in thespare area or a location of the ECC cluster in the user data area,information indicating one of the two cases may be defined. Suchinformation may be incorporated into the status information 1011.

1-3. Recording/Reproduction Apparatus

FIG. 6 shows a configuration of an information recording/reproductionapparatus 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The information recording/reproduction apparatus 300 includes a hostapparatus 305 and a drive apparatus 310.

The host apparatus 305 can be, for example, a computer system or apersonal computer.

The drive apparatus 310 can be, for example, any one of a recordingapparatus, a reproduction apparatus and a recording/reproductionapparatus. The information recording/reproduction apparatus 300 as awhole also can be called any one of a recording apparatus, areproduction apparatus and a recording/reproduction apparatus.

The host apparatus 305 includes a system control section 301 and amemory circuit 302. The host apparatus 305 may further include magneticdisc apparatus 304 such as a hard disc drive. The components in the hostapparatus 305 are connected to each other via an I/O bus 303.

The system control section 301 can be implemented, for example, by amicroprocessor including a system control program and a memory foroperation. The system control section 301 controls various processes andperforms various operations such as recording/reproduction of a volumestructure/file structure of a file system, recording/reproduction of ametadata partition/file structure described below,recording/reproduction of files and recording/reproduction of thelead-in/lead-out areas.

The memory circuit 302 is used to operate information such as a volumestructure, a file structure, a metadata partition/file structure andfiles, and is used to temporarily store them.

The drive apparatus 310 includes a drive control section 311, a memorycircuit 312, and a recording/reproduction section 314. The components inthe drive apparatus 310 are connected to each other via an internal bus313.

The drive control section 310 can be implemented, for example, by amicroprocessor including a drive control program and a memory foroperation. The drive control section 310 controls various processes andperforms various operations such as recording/reproduction of the discmanagement information area and the spare area and the pseudo-overwriterecording/reproduction.

The system control section 301 and drive control section 310 shown inFIG. 6 can be implemented by a semiconductor integrated circuit such asan LSI. Alternatively, they can be implemented by a general processorand a memory (e.g. a ROM).

A program is stored in the memory (e.g. a ROM). The program isexecutable by a computer (e.g. a general processor). This program mayrepresent a reproduction process and/or a recording process according tothe present invention described above or described below. A computer(e.g. a general processor) performs the reproduction process and/or therecording process according to the present invention in accordance withthe program.

The memory circuit 312 is used to operate data concerning the discmanagement information area and the spare area and data transferred tothe drive apparatus 310, and is used to temporarily store them.

1-4. Procedure of Recording Process (1)

With reference to FIG. 7, the data structure of the informationrecording medium 100 after performing a format process according to thepresent embodiment of the invention will be described below.

Track #1 401, track #2 402 and track #3 403 are allocated in the userdata area 108.

A volume space 109 is allocated in the user data area 108. A volumestructure area 410, a physical partition 420 and a volume structure area411 are allocated in the volume space 109.

In the physical partition 420, a metadata partition 430 is included. Themetadata partition 430 is defined in a pseudo-overwrite method inversion 2.5 or higher version of the UDF specification.

In the metadata partition 430, a metadata file 440 is recorded. In orderto simplify the description, the description of a metadata mirror fileis omitted below. The metadata mirror file is a duplication of metadatafile 440. The metadata mirror file can be also recorded.

A FE (Metadata file) 441 is recorded. The FE (Metadata file) 441 is afile entry (FE) indicating a recording location of the metadata file 440in the physical partition 420.

The information on the file structure such as a file entry (FE)indicating a recording location of a user data file or a directory, islocated in the metadata partition 430 (i.e. the metadata file 440).

In FIG. 7, only the ROOT directory is recorded. In the metadata file440, only a file set descriptor 433 FE and an FE (ROOT) 442 arerecorded. In order to simplify the description, it is assumed that adirectory file is included in each FE.

It is assumed that the state shown in FIG. 7 is a state in which anyreplacement recording has not been performed yet. The management ofunrecorded areas in the metadata partition 430 may be performed using ametadata bitmap (not shown) as defined in version 2.5 of the UDFspecification.

Alternatively, it is possible to perform the management of unrecordedareas in the metadata partition 430 by the LRA 405 in the track #1 whilemaintaining unrecorded areas in the metadata partition 430 unrecorded.

The method for allocating tracks is not limited to the method shown inFIG. 7. For example, more tracks can be allocated. It is possible to adda new track when it is required, while maintaining the state of the lasttrack in the user data area such that the new track can be added to thelast track.

Next, with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 8A, the procedure ofthe data recording process will be described below.

Herein, a case where a data file (File-a) is to be recorded in theinformation recording medium 100 is described as an example.

A plurality of physical addresses are assigned to the data area 102 ofthe information recording medium 100. A plurality of logical addressesare assigned to the user data area 108 of the information recordingmedium 100. It is assumed that a corresponding relationship between theplurality of logical addresses and the plurality of physical addressesis predetermined.

Each of the plurality of logical addresses is represented by a logicalsector number (LSN) or a logical block address (LBA). Each of theplurality of physical addresses is represented by a physical sectornumber (PSN) or physical block address (PBA). Further, it is assumedthat at least one track is allocated in user data area 108.

(Step S101) Prior to recording the data file (File-a), the drive controlsection 311 performs a preparation process for the data recording. Sucha preparation process for the data recording is performed, for example,when the information recording medium 100 is loaded into the driveapparatus 310.

For example, the drive control section 311 reads the latest discmanagement information from the disc management information area 104 (orthe disc management information area 105) of the information recordingmedium 100.

The drive control section 311 obtains the user area start locationinformation 1103, the user area end location information 1104, the sparearea information 1105 and like from the disc management information inorder to determine a primary logical address-physical address mappingindicating the corresponding relationship between the plurality oflogical addresses and the plurality of physical addresses assigned tothe user data area 108.

Hereinafter, the drive control section 311 performs translation betweenthe logical address and primary physical address in accordance with theprimary logical address-physical address mapping.

The drive control section 311 obtains track management informationincluded in the disc management information area 104.

(Step S102) The drive control section 311 receives a recordinginstruction from the host apparatus 305. The recording instructionincludes a logical address indicating a location at which data is to berecorded. This logical address is represented, for example, by a logicalsector number (LSN) or a logical block address (LBA). The recordinginstruction may include a single logical address indicating a locationat which single data is to be recorded, or it may include a plurality oflogical addresses indicating a plurality of locations at which aplurality of data are to be recorded respectively.

The logical address included in the recording instruction is determined,for example, by the host apparatus 305 based on a logical addressindicating a location at which data is to be recorded the next time(i.e. a logical next writable address (a logical NWA)).

The logical NWA is output from the drive apparatus 310 to the hostapparatus 305 in response to a request from the host apparatus 305 tothe drive apparatus 310, for example.

The logical NWA is obtained by translating the NWA determined byExpression (1) described above in accordance with the primary logicaladdress-physical address mapping. This translation is performed by thedrive control section 311. The procedure for determining the NWA and thelogical NWA will be described later in detail in embodiment 2 of theinvention.

The system control section 301 of the host apparatus 305 generates andupdates file system information as necessary in order to record datafile (File-a). For example, the system control section 301 generates anFE (File-a) for the data file (File-a) and updates the ROOT directorywhich is a parent directory of the data file (File-a) using the memorycircuit 302.

The generated FE (File-a) for the data file (File-a) and the updatedROOT directory are recorded in the information recording medium 100 byoutputting the recording instruction from the host apparatus 305 to thedrive apparatus 310. Thus, the latest file system information isreflected on the information recording medium 100.

If necessary, the host apparatus 305 inquires the drive apparatus 310using a predetermined command as to whether or not there is anyremaining unrecorded area for performing a replacement recording.

The instructions from the host apparatus 305 to the drive apparatus 310may be a standardized command such as a SCSI multi-media command.

For example, a request for the logical NWA may be a READ TRACKINFORMATION command, and a recording instruction may be a WRITE command.

(Step S103) The drive control section 311 translates the logical addressincluded in the recording instruction received in step S102 into aphysical address in accordance with the primary logical address-physicaladdress mapping.

(Step S104) The drive control section 311 determines a track (an opentrack) of the at least one track allocated in the user data area 108based on the physical address corresponding to the logical addressincluded in the recording instruction and the track managementinformation 210 (FIG. 2B) included in the disc management information.

The drive control section 311 determines a physical address indicating alocation at which data is to be recorded the next time (i.e. NWA) withinthe determined track, based on LRA 213 within the determined track. ThisNWA is a next writable address determined in accordance with Expression(1) described above.

The NWA may be determined in step S104. Alternatively, the NWA may bedetermined in other steps other than step S104 (e.g. in the preparationprocess for the data recording described above).

By calculating the NWA using the LRA, it is not necessary to hold theinformation on the NWA in the track management information. As a result,it is possible to simplify the data structure of the track managementinformation.

(Step S105) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not thephysical address corresponding to the logical address included in therecording instruction is less than the NWA.

When it is determined that the physical address corresponding to thelogical address included in the recording instruction is less than theNWA, the recording instruction is determined as a recording instructionfor the recorded area in the user data area 108. In this case, theprocess proceeds to step S106. Otherwise, the process proceeds to stepS108.

(Step S106) The drive control section 311 determines data to berecorded. When the data recording is performed as a unit of ECC clusterin the information recording medium 100, the drive control section 311determines the data specified by the recording instruction as the datato be recorded. For example, if the recording location and the size ofthe data specified by the recording instruction match a boundary of theECC clusters, then an entire ECC cluster is rewritten. In this case, thedrive control section 311 determines the data itself specified by therecording instruction as the data to be recorded.

If it does not match any boundary of the ECC clusters, then the drivecontrol section 311 performs a read-modify-write process describedbelow. In this case, the drive control section 311 determines the dataas a unit of ECC cluster which is obtained during the read-modify-writeprocess as the data to be recorded.

(Step S107) The drive control section 311 determines the recordinglocation of the data determined in step S106. Specifically, the drivecontrol section 311 determines a specific location in the user data area108, which is other than the location indicated by the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction, as the recording location of the data determined in stepS106.

The specific location may be the NWA within the track determined in stepS104.

Alternatively, the specific location may be a location indicated by anNWA within an open track which is different from the track determined instep S104. In this case, it is preferable that the NWA within the opentrack is an NWA which indicates a location which is closest to thelocation indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logicaladdress included in the recording instruction.

(Step S108) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not thephysical address corresponding to the logical address included in therecording instruction is equal to the NWA.

When it is determined that the physical address corresponding to thelogical address included in the recording instruction is equal to theNWA, the recording instruction is determined as a recording instructionto the location indicated by the NWA. That is, the data recordinginstructed by the recording instruction is determined as an appendingrecording (a new recording). In this case, the process proceeds to stepS109. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S111.

(Step S109) The drive control section 311 determines data to berecorded. Specifically, the drive control section 311 determines thedata specified by the recording instruction as the data to be recorded.

Then, the drive control section 311 determines whether or not the end ofthe data specified by the recording instruction matches a boundary ofthe ECC clusters. If it does not match the boundary of the ECC clusters,padding data (e.g. data consisting of one or more “00” h) is insertedsuch that the end of the data after insertion matches the boundary ofthe ECC clusters. In this case, the drive control section 311 determinesthe data after insertion as the data to be recorded.

(Step S110) The drive control section 311 determines the recordinglocation of the data determined in step S106. Specifically, the drivecontrol section 311 determines the location indicated by the physicaladdress corresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction (i.e. the location indicated by the NWA), as the recordinglocation of the data determined in step S106.

(Step S111) The drive control section 311 performs an error process.

(Step S112) The drive control section 311 performs a recording processfor the determined recording location.

When the determination result in step S105 is “Yes”, the drive controlsection 311 controls the recording/reproduction section 314 to recordthe data determined in step S106 at the recording location determined instep S107.

When the determination result in step S108 is “Yes”, the drive controlsection 311 controls the recording/reproduction section 314 to recordthe data determined in step S109 at the recording location determined instep S110.

Further, the drive control section 311 performs a verify process for therecorded data to determine whether or not the data recording hassucceeded. If the data recording has succeeded, then the processproceeds to step S113.

If the data recording has failed, then an unrecorded area in the sparearea (e.g. the inner spare area 106) or the user data area 108 isallocated as a replacement cluster, and the data is recorded in thereplacement cluster.

After the data recording has finally succeeded, the process proceeds tostep S113.

For example, the processes of step S106 and step S112 described above isperformed as a read-modify-write process (hereinafter RMW process).

According to the RMW process, firstly, the drive control section 311controls the recording/reproduction section 314 to reproduce the datarecorded in the ECC cluster including a physical sector at a locationindicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical addressincluded in the recording instruction, and it stores the data reproducedfrom the ECC cluster in the memory circuit 312 (i.e. “read” process).

There is a possibility that the ECC cluster to be reproduced is replacedwith a replacement cluster at the time when the reproduction process isperformed. The drive control section 311 refers to the replacementmanagement information list 1000, and, if necessary, it controls therecording/reproduction section 314 to reproduce the data recorded in thereplacement cluster. The procedure of the data reproduction referring tothe replacement management information list 1000 will be describedlater.

Secondly, the drive control section 311 replaces the data recorded inthe physical sector at the location indicated by the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction among the data reproduced from the ECC cluster with the dataincluded in the recording instruction (i.e. “modify” process). As aresult, the data to be recorded in the replacement cluster is obtained.

The drive control section 311 performs a read process and a modifyprocess in step S106.

FIG. 8B shows the steps performed when the read process and the modifyprocess are performed in step S106 shown in FIG. 8A. Each step shown inFIG. 8B is performed by the drive control section 311 of the driveapparatus 310.

(Step S151) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not theECC cluster including the location specified by the recordinginstruction has been already replaced by an replacement cluster. Such adetermination is made, for example, by retrieving the replacementmanagement information list 1000.

If the replacement management information 1010 which indicates thelocation specified by the recording instruction as original location isfound, it is determined that the ECC cluster has been already replacedby the replacement cluster and the process proceeds to step S152A.Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S152B.

By holding the determination result of step S151 as a value of theinternal variable, it is possible to refer to the value of the internalvariable. By referring to the value of the internal variable, ifnecessary, in the steps other than step S151, it is possible todetermine whether or not the ECC cluster including the locationspecified by the recording instruction has been already replaced by areplacement cluster. This makes it possible to avoid repeatedlyperforming the same process. For example, if the determination result ofstep S151 is “Yes”, then the value of “1” may held as the value of theinternal variable, and if the determination result of step S151 is “No”,then the value of “0” may held as the value of the internal variable.

(Step S152A) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not theRMW process is required. For example, if the location and the sizespecified by the recording instruction matches a boundary of the ECCclusters, then drive control section 311 determines that the RMW processis not required. If the location and the size specified by the recordinginstruction do not match any boundary of the ECC clusters, then drivecontrol section 311 determines that the RMW process is required.

If it is determined that the RMW process is required, then the processproceeds to step S153. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S157.

Similar to step S151, by holding the determination result of step S152Aas a value of the internal variable, it is possible to refer to thevalue of the internal variable. By referring to the value of theinternal variable, if necessary, in the steps other than step S152A, itis possible to determine whether or not the RMW process is required.

(Step S152B) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not theRMW process is required. The process of step S152B is the same as theprocess of step S152A.

(Step S153) The drive control section 311 controls therecording/reproduction section 314 to reproduce the data recorded in thereplacement cluster indicated by the replacement management information1010 found in step S151, instead of the ECC cluster including thelocation specified by the recording instruction, and stores thereproduced data in the memory circuit 312.

(Step S154) The drive control section 311 controls therecording/reproduction section 314 to reproduce the data recorded in theECC cluster including the location specified by the recordinginstruction, and stores the reproduced data in the memory circuit 312.

(Step S155) The drive control section 311 replaces the reproduced databy the data specified by the recording instruction so as to generate amodified data.

(Step S156) The drive control section 311 determines the modified dataas the data to be recorded in the information recording medium 100.

(Step S157) The drive control section 311 determines the data specifiedby the recording instruction as the data to be recorded in theinformation recording medium 100.

Thus, the read process and the modify process are completed.

Thirdly, the drive control section 311 controls therecording/reproduction section 314 to record the data obtained as aresult of the modify process (i.e. the data to be recorded in thereplacement cluster) in a location of the original ECC cluster (i.e.“write” process). The drive control section 311 performs write processin step S112.

However, in the present invention, since the information recordingmedium is a write-once recording medium, it is not possible to actuallyrecord the data in a location of the original ECC cluster.

Accordingly, in the present invention, an unrecorded area in the sparearea such as the inner spare area 106 or the user data area 108 isallocated as a replacement cluster, and the updated data is recorded inthe replacement cluster.

Further, the drive control section 311 performs a verify process todetermine whether or not the data recording has succeeded. When it isdetermined that the data recording has succeeded, the process proceedsto step S113.

When it is determined that the data recording has failed, an unrecordedarea in the spare area such as the inner spare area 106 or the user dataarea 108 is allocated as a further replacement cluster, and the data isrecorded in the further replacement cluster.

After the data recording has finally succeeded, the process proceeds tostep S113.

When the area specified by the recording instruction corresponds to anentire ECC cluster, the entire ECC block is rewritten. In this case, theread process described above is not required.

(Step S113) The drive control section 311 generates replacementmanagement information 1010 in accordance with the process in step 5112,and stores the replacement management information 1010 in memory circuit312. For example, in step S112, when the drive control section 311controls the recording/reproduction section 314 to record data at aspecific location in the user data area 108 wherein the specificlocation is any location other than the location indicated by thephysical address corresponding to the logical address included in therecording instruction, the drive control section 311 generatesreplacement management information 1010 which maps the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction to a physical address indicating the specific location.

It is possible to determine whether or not the replacement managementinformation 1010 having the original location information 1012, whichindicates the same location as the physical address corresponding to thelogical address included in the recording instruction, is found in theexisting replacement management information list 1000 by retrieving theexisting replacement management information list 1000.

If it is found, the drive control section 311 updates the replacementmanagement information 1010 so as to set the physical address indicationof the specific address as a new replacement location information 1013.

If it is not found, the drive control section 311 generates newreplacement management information 1010 and adds the new replacementmanagement information 1010 to the replacement management informationlist 1000.

Next, the drive control section 311 sorts the replacement managementinformation list 1000. For example, the drive control section 311 sortsthe replacement management information list 1000 by the statusinformation 1011, and then sorts it by the physical address indicated bythe original location information 1012.

Thus, a new replacement management information list 1000 including thereplacement management information 1010 which maps the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction to the physical address indicating the specific location isgenerated.

(Step S114) The drive control section 311 updates the disc managementinformation to reflect the recording process described above. Forexample, the drive control section 311 updates the last recorded addressinformation 1107. In addition, the drive control section 311 updates theLRA 213 in each track management information 210 corresponding to thetracks in which data have been recorded to reflect the latest recordingstatus.

Further, the drive control section 311 generates the new disc managementinformation including the updated information such as the newreplacement management information list 1000 and track managementinformation 210. In addition, the drive control section 311 sets thereplacement management information list location information 1102 andthe session management information location information 1109 included inthe new disc management information to indicate the latest recordinglocation of the new replacement management information list 1000 andtrack management information 210 on the information recording medium100.

The drive control section 311 controls the recording/reproductionsection 314 to record the new disc management information in apredetermined area (e.g. a temporal disc management information area) onthe information recording medium 100. Thus, the disc managementinformation is updated to reflect the latest status.

When the data recording is completed, the drive apparatus 310 can notifythe host apparatus 305 of the result of the recording process. Theresult of the recording process is, for example, information indicatingthat the data recording has succeeded or failed.

Such a notification can be sent to the host apparatus 305 at apredetermined timing. For example, it is possible to send thisnotification to the host apparatus 305 at the timing of the end of stepS108 or at the timing when an error occurs in step S112. Alternatively,it is possible to send this notification before the data recording isactually completed. For example, it is possible to send a notificationindicating that the data recording is completed to the host apparatus305 at the timing when the interpretation of the received recordinstruction is completed correctly.

In the replacement recording process, it is possible to retrieve anunrecorded area in a direction along which the PSNs are increased fromthe location of the original ECC cluster. If the unrecorded area isfound during the retrieval, the unrecorded area is allocated as areplacement cluster.

Alternatively, it is possible to first retrieve an unrecorded area in atrack including the original ECC cluster, and then retrieve anunrecorded area for each track in a direction along which the PSNs areincreased from the track.

When the retrieval for the unrecorded area reaches the end of the userdata area 108 without finding any unrecorded area, it is possible toretrieve an unrecorded area in the outer spare area 107 following theuser data area 108.

Further, the retrieval for the unrecorded area reaches the end of theouter spare area 107 without finding any unrecorded area, it is possibleto retrieve an unrecorded area in a direction along which the PSNs areincreased from a predetermined location at the inner side of theinformation recording medium 100 (e.g. a leading position of the innerspare area 106 or a leading position of the user data area 108 or alocation apart from its leading position by a predetermined distance).

In steps S105 and S108 of the procedure of the recording process, it isdetermined whether the data recording is a pseudo-overwrite recording oran appending recording by comparing the physical address correspondingto the logical address included in the recording instruction with theNWA.

The reason why it is determined whether the data recording is apseudo-overwrite recording or an appending recording based on such acomparison is that the information recording medium 100 is a write-oncerecording medium and that a sequential recording is performed for thewrite-once recording medium.

The replacement recording method using the user data area describedabove according to the present invention is applicable to any rewritableoptical disc. However, in order to determine whether the data recordingis a overwrite recording or an appending recording (or a new recording)for the rewritable optical disc, a more complex process is required.This is because, in the case of the rewritable optical disc, it ispossible to randomly rewrite data at an arbitrary location on theoptical disc.

When the drive apparatus manages an unrecorded area on the rewritableoptical disc as described in the embodiment above, it is necessary tomanage replacement management information corresponding to all ECCclusters on the rewritable optical disc using the SDL, as described inthe background art of the present specification, for example. Further,in order to determine whether the data recording for recording data at acertain location in the user data area is an overwrite recording or anew recording, it is necessary to retrieve an entire replacementmanagement information list 1000, for example. Similarly, in order todetermine whether or not an ECC cluster is used as a replacementcluster, it is necessary to retrieve an entire replacement managementinformation list 1000. The amount of such a retrieving process isincreased as the size of the replacement management information list1000 is increased. This should be a problem since the capacity of theoptical disc is being increased more and more.

On the other hand, in the present invention, since the informationrecording medium 100 is a write-once recording medium, it is ensuredthat every area in a track which has an address less than the NWA is anunrecorded area.

Accordingly, by performing the comparison described in steps S105 andS108, it is possible to easily determine whether the data recording is apseudo-overwrite recording or an appending recording, regardless of thesize of the replacement management information list 1000. Further, it ispossible to easily select a replacement cluster since the replacementcluster can be selected from any location after the NWA.

The pseudo-overwrite recording in a random recording method for awrite-once optical disc is performed in a similar way as the rewritableoptical disc.

Further, in order to perform the random recording method for thewrite-once optical disc, a special structure such as the space bitmapmanagement information 220 is required. The management of the unrecordedarea for the random recording method using the space bitmap managementinformation 220 requires significantly greater processing load to thedrive control section 311, compared to the management of the unrecordedarea for the sequential recording method.

In particular, in the sequential recording method, it is possible tolimit the number of open tracks to a predetermined number (for example,four at maximum) so that the utilization of a file system is notreduced.

In this case, the number of open tracks depends on the structure of thefile system, and it is independent from the capacity of the opticaldisc. On the other hand, the size of the space bitmap managementinformation 220 is increased as the capacity of the optical disc isincreased. As a result, the processing load is also increased.

Thus, the effect of the present invention for performing apseudo-overwrite in the sequential recording method is very significantfor the optical disc, since the capacity of the optical disc is beingincreased more and more.

One feature of the present invention is to determine an NWA inaccordance with LRA 213 included in the latest track managementinformation 210 and expression (1) in order to determine whether thedata recording is a pseudo-overwrite recording or an appendingrecording.

By recording the LRA 213, which has been updated as a result of the datarecording, on the disc, it is possible to reduce the time required tofind the latest LRA 213 when the information recording medium 100 isloaded into the drive apparatus 310.

By calculating the NWA using the LRA 213, it is not necessary to holdinformation on the NWA in the track information. As a result, it ispossible to simplify the data structure of the track managementinformation.

In order to determine whether the data recording is a pseudo-overwriterecording or an appending recording without using a method according tothe present invention, the following procedure is required, for example.

Specifically, the procedure includes the steps of determining a trackincluding a physical address corresponding to the logical addressincluded in the recording instruction, sequentially checking ECCclusters from a leading position of the determined track, anddetermining whether or not each of the ECC clusters is recorded.

If the ECC cluster is in a recorded state at a location indicated by therecording instruction, then it is determined that the data recording isa pseudo-overwrite recording.

However, it is not preferable to perform such a procedure since theamount of the required processing is increased as the size of the trackis increased.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, it is possible toeasily determine whether the data recording is a pseudo-overwriterecording or an appending recording, regardless of the size of thetrack.

Further, since LRA 213 is included in the track management information210, it is possible to easily determine an NWA as well as thedetermination of a track in which the data is to be recorded when thedrive apparatus 310 receives the recording instruction.

FIG. 9 shows a data structure on the information recording medium 100after the data file has been recorded in accordance with the procedureof the data recording.

Referring to FIG. 9, data file (File-a) 460 is described as an exampleof the data file. It is assumed that a defective cluster #1 and adefective cluster #2 are detected in the data file (File-a) 460 in theprocedure of the data recording.

The disc management information including replacement managementinformation indicating a replacement of the defective cluster #1 with areplacement cluster #1 and a replacement management informationindicating a replacement of the defective cluster #2 with a replacementcluster #2 is recorded in the disc management information area 104.

As shown in FIG. 9, the replacement cluster #1 is recorded in the innerspare area 106 and the replacement cluster #2 is recorded in the userdata area 108.

The content of the data file (File-a) 460 is updated by thepseudo-overwrite recording. Specifically, an overwritten cluster #3 andan overwritten cluster #4 correspond to the updated portions of the datafile (File-a) 460 according to the pseudo-overwrite recording.

The new data updated by the pseudo-overwrite recording is recorded in areplacement cluster #3 assigned as the substitute for the overwrittencluster #3 and is recorded in a replacement cluster #4 assigned as thesubstitute for the overwritten cluster #4. The corresponding replacementinformation is recorded in the disc management information area 104.

As shown in FIG. 9, the replacement cluster #3 is assigned in the innerspare area 106 and the replacement cluster #4 is assigned in the userdata area 108.

1-5. Procedure of Reproduction Process (1)

With reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 10, a reproduction processfor a file is described. Herein, a reproduction process for the datafile (File-a) 460 shown in FIG. 9 is described as an example.

(Step S201) Prior to performing a reproduction process, the drivecontrol section 311 performs a preparation process for the datareproduction. Such a preparation process for the data reproduction isperformed, for example, when the information recording medium 100 isloaded into the drive apparatus 310.

For example, the drive control section 311 reads disc managementinformation from the disc management information area 104 (or the discmanagement information area 105) of the information recording medium100.

The drive control section 311 obtains user area start locationinformation 1103, user area end location information 1104, spare areainformation 1105 and like from the disc management information togenerate a primary logical address-physical address mapping indicatingthe corresponding relationship between the plurality of logicaladdresses and the plurality of physical addresses assigned to the userdata area 108.

Hereinafter, the drive apparatus 310 performs translation between thelogical address and the primary physical address in accordance withprimary logical ad-dress-physical address mapping.

(Step S202) The system control section 301 outputs a reproductioninstruction to the drive apparatus 310 to reproduce an AVDP recorded ata predetermined location (e.g. LSN=256) of the information recordingmedium 100.

The AVDP is a data structure defined by the UDF specification as ananchor point of the file system information. The AVDP is recorded in thevolume structure area 410 and the volume structure area 411.

(Step S203) The system control section 301 obtains location informationof a main volume descriptor sequence 410A recorded in the volumestructure area 410 from the AVDP. The system control section 301 outputsan instruction to the drive apparatus 310 to reproduce the main volumestructure 410A.

Further, the system control section 301 obtains location information(LSN) of an FE (metadata file) 441 by retrieving the data structure fromthe reproduced main volume descriptor sequence 410A in steps.

(Step S204) The system control section 301 reproduces a file structure.In order to reproduce the file structure, the system control section 301outputs a reproduction instruction to the drive apparatus 310 based onthe obtained location information (LSN) of the FE (metadata file) 441 toreproduce the FE (metadata file) 441.

The system control section 301 obtains location information of ametadata file 440 from the reproduced FE (metadata file) 441. As aresult, it is possible to access the metadata file 440.

(Step S205) In accordance with the procedure of the data reproductionbased on the UDF specification, the FDS 433, the FE (ROOT) 442, the FE(File-a) 443 and the data file (File-a) 460 are reproduced in thisorder. The description of the reproduction of the directory file isomitted.

In each step in the reproduction process described above, a reproductioninstruction is output from the host apparatus 305 to the drive apparatus310. The drive control section 311 of the drive apparatus 310 receivesthe reproduction instruction from the host apparatus 305, and performs areproduction process in accordance with the reproduction instruction.

The reproduction instruction includes a logical address indicating alocation from which data is to be reproduced. The logical address is,for example, rep-resented by a logical sector number (LSN).Alternatively, the logical address may be represented by a logical blockaddress (LBA). The reproduction instruction is, for example, a READcommand.

The drive control section 311 translates the logical address included inthe reproduction instruction into a physical address in accordance withthe primary logical address-physical address mapping (for example, seeFIG. 12).

The drive control section 311 determines whether or not the replacementmanagement information 1010 having the original location information1012, which indicates the same location as the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the reproductioninstruction, is found in the replacement management information list1000 by retrieving the replacement management information list 1000.

If it is found, the drive control section 311 refers to the replacementlocation information 1013 of the replacement management information 1010and controls the recording/reproduction section 314 to reproduce datafrom the location indicated by the replacement location information1013.

If it is not found, the drive control section 311 controls therecording/reproduction section 314 to reproduce data from the locationindicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical addressincluded in the reproduction instruction. The reproduced data is sentback to the host apparatus 305.

1-6. Procedure of Recording Process (2)

FIG. 11 shows a data structure of the replacement management information1010B. The replacement management information 1010B is a differentembodiment of the replacement management information 1010 shown in FIG.5B.

As shown in FIG. 11, the status information 1011 of the replacementmanagement information 1010B includes three information, i.e. Flag1,Flag2 and Flag3.

Flag1 is information for classifying the replacement managementinformation 1010B. Flag1 includes information indicating whether thereplacement information is for the purpose of the replacement recordingor for the purpose of the designation of the defective cluster.

Flag2 is information on the recording location of the replacementcluster managed by the replacement management information 1010B. Flag2includes information indicating whether the recording location of thereplacement cluster is in the spare area (or there is no replacementcluster) or the recording location of the replacement cluster is in theuser data area.

Flag3 is information on the number of the clusters managed by thereplacement management information 1010B, Flag3 includes informationindicating whether the replacement information corresponds to a singlecluster or a plurality of contiguous clusters. When the replacementinformation corresponds to a plurality of contiguous clusters, Flag3further includes information indicating whether the replacementinformation corresponds to a start location of the contiguous range oran end location of the contiguous range.

Hereinafter; with reference to FIG. 11, the procedure of the datarecording according to the present invention will be described indetail.

The symbols at the right side of FIG. 11 represent the respective typesof the replacement management information. These symbols are referred toin the description below, if necessary. For example, the replacementmanagement information (type (1)) includes the status information 1011such that Flag1=1 (for the purpose of the replacement recording),Flag2=0 (for the replacement in the spare area) and Flag3=00 (for asingle cluster). This replacement management information (type (1)) maybe denoted by the replacement management information (1).

FIG. 12 shows an example of the data structure of the physical addressspace and the logical address space on the information recording medium100 according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 also shows a corresponding relationship between the logicalsector number (LSN) and the physical sector number (PSN) in a primarystate. The logical sector number (LSN) is a logical address indicating alocation which is seen from the host apparatus 305 on the informationrecording medium 100. The physical sector number (PSN) is a physicaladdress indicating an actual location on the information recordingmedium 100. This corresponding relationship is referred to as a primarylogical address-physical address mapping. This mapping is represented bybroken line arrows in FIG. 12 (or other figures).

Each row shown in FIG. 12 corresponds to one ECC cluster. In FIG. 12, aphysical address (PSN) and a logical address (LSN) corresponding to thephysical address (PSN) are shown in the same row.

In FIG. 12, the values of the PSNs and the LSNs are shown as the valuesof the PSNs and the LSNs from the first sector to the last sector in thecorresponding ECC cluster.

Herein, it is assumed that one ECC cluster consists of 32 sectors.However, one ECC cluster may be any other configuration.

The PSNs are assigned to the inner spare area 106, the outer spare area107 and the user data area 108.

The tracks are allocated from a leading position of the user data area108. In the state shown in FIG. 12, since no data is recorded, the LRA500 designates a leading position of the user data area 108.

The LSNs are assigned to only the user data area 108 (or the volumespace 109).

The host apparatus 305 instructs a recording process or a reproductionprocess. These instructions specify a specific logical sector on theinformation recording medium 100 using the LSN.

The drive apparatus 310 translates the LSN received from the hostapparatus 305 into a PSN using the primary logical address-physicaladdress mapping, and accesses a physical sector or ECC cluster inaccordance with the PSN.

In the replacement recording described hereinafter, the primary logicaladdress-physical address mapping is basically used. When the logicaladdress-physical address mapping other than the primary logicaladdress-physical address mapping is required, the replacement managementinformation 1010 is used.

The values of the PSNs and the LSNs are only examples for explanation.These values can be varied depending on the structure and the capacityof the information recording medium 100.

As described above, the size of the disc management information and thespare area can be changed. The size of these is determined at the timewhen the format process is performed in response to an instruction fromthe host apparatus 305. After the format process, the start location andthe end location of the user data area 108 is not changed.

In this case, it is possible to determine a relationship of the primarylogical address-physical address mapping uniquely (e.g. by apredetermined calculation) from information of the disc structureinformation 1100 (e.g. in more detail, user area start locationinformation 1103, user area end location information 1104, spare areainformation 1105 and like) included in the disc management information.

With reference to FIGS. 12 to 17B, an exemplary use of the replacementmanagement information 1010B shown in FIG. 11 will be described.

Firstly, the transition from the state shown in FIG. 12 to the stateshown in FIG. 13A is described.

The host apparatus 305 instructs to record data “A” at a location ofLSN=0.

Upon the receipt of the recording instruction, the drive apparatus 310translates LSN=0 into PSN=1100 in accordance with the primary logicaladdress-physical address mapping and records data “A” at a location ofPSN=1100.

Next, the drive apparatus 310 performs a verify process for the recordeddata. Herein, it is assumed that the recording of data “A” hassucceeded.

The host apparatus 305 instructs to record data “A1” at a location ofLSN=0.

Upon the receipt of the recording instruction, the drive apparatus 310translates LSN=0 into PSN=1100 in accordance with the primary logicaladdress-physical address mapping and performs a RMW process at alocation of PSN=1100. Then, the drive apparatus 310 records data “A1” ata location of PSN=100 in the inner spare area 106.

The drive apparatus 310 generates replacement management information511. The location of PSN=1100 at which data “A” is recorded is set tothe original location of the replacement management information 511. Thelocation of PSN=100 at which data “A1” is recorded is set to thereplacement location of the replacement management information 511. Thestatus information 1011 of the replacement management information 511 isset in accordance with FIG. 11.

The replacement management information 511 corresponds to solid linearrows shown in FIG. 13A. The tail of each arrow represents the originallocation of the replacement management information 511 and the head ofeach arrow represents the replacement location of the replacementmanagement information 511. Hereinafter, a similar notation will beused.

In the state shown in FIG. 13A, the host apparatus 305 instructs torecord data “B” at a location of LSN=2. Herein, it is assumed that therecording of data “B” has failed. Then, the data “B” is recorded at alocation of PSN=132 in the inner spare area 106.

The replacement management information 512 is generated in response tothis replacement recording. The location of PSN=1032 is set to theoriginal location of the replacement management information 512. Thelocation of PSN=132 is set to the replacement location of thereplacement management information 512. The status information 1011 ofthe replacement management information 512 is set in accordance withFIG. 11.

The data allocation and the replacement management information listafter the data recording described above is completed are shown in FIG.13A and FIG. 13B, respectively. In the replacement managementinformation list 1000A shown in FIG. 13B, the replacement managementinformation (1) is used.

With reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B, the cases where the replacementmanagement information (4) and (7) are used will be described.

The host apparatus 305 instructs to record data “C” at a location ofLSN=64. In accordance with the recording instruction, the driveapparatus 310 records data “C” at a location of PSN=1164. Herein, it isassumed that the recording of data “C” has failed. Then, a recorded areain the user data area 108 (PSN=1196) is allocated and the data “C” isrecorded at a location of PSN=1196 instead of the location of PSN=1164.

The replacement management information 513 is generated in response tothis replacement recording.

The host apparatus 305 instructs to record data “D” at a location ofLSN=128. Then, the host apparatus 305 instructs to record data “D1”.Herein, it is assumed that the recording of data “D1” has failed. Then,the data “D1” is recorded at a location of PSN=1292.

The replacement management information 514 is generated in response tothis replacement recording.

PSN=1260 indicates a location of a defective cluster, wherein there isno replacement cluster corresponding to the defective cluster. Then, thereplacement management information 515 is generated.

The host apparatus 305 instructs to record data “D2” at a location ofLSN=128. Then, the data “D2” is recorded at a location of PSN=1324.

The replacement management information 514A is generated in response tothis replacement recording. The replacement management information 514becomes unnecessary. Accordingly, the replacement management information514 is deleted from the replacement management information list 1000.

After the recording process described above is completed, the locationof the LRA is updated to a location indicated by 500B.

The replacement management information list 1000B (FIG. 14B) is sortedby Flag1 of the status information 1011, and then it is sorted by thevalue of PSN indicated by the original location information 1012.

With reference to FIGS. 15A and 15B, the cases where the replacementmanagement information (5) and (6) are used will be described.

The host apparatus 305 instructs to record data “E” at a location ofLSN=256˜X1. Herein, it is assumed that the recording of data “E” hasfailed. Then, the data “E” is recorded at a location of PSN=x2˜x3. Thereplacement management information 516 and the replacement managementinformation 517 are generated. Each of the replacement managementinformation 516 and 517 indicates the first PSN of the ECC clustercorresponding to a start location of the replacement recording and thefirst PSN of the ECC cluster corresponding to an end location of thereplacement recording.

In the state shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B, the host apparatus 305instructs to record data “E1” at a location of LSN=256˜X1. Then, thedata “E1” is recorded at a location of PSN=x4˜x5, which are an recordedarea in the state shown in FIG. 15A.

The replacement management information 516A is generated as informationindicating a start point of the replacement recording. The replacementmanagement information 517A is generated as information indicating anend point of the replacement recording.

At this time, the replacement management information 516 and 517 becomeunnecessary. Accordingly, the replacement management information 516 and517 are deleted from the replacement management information list 1000.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 15A and 16A, all of data are recorded inthe user data area 108 as a result of the replacement recording.However, it is possible to record these data in the inner spare area106. In this case, the replacement management information (2) and (3)are used.

As described in reference with FIG. 8A, the updated replacementmanagement information list is recorded in the disc managementinformation area.

1-7. Procedure of Reproduction Process (2)

In order to reproduce the recorded data, the following reproductionprocess is performed.

Prior to performing a reproduction process, the drive control section311 performs a preparation process for the data reproduction. Such apreparation process for the data reproduction is performed, for example,in a manner similar to step S201 described above.

For example, in the state shown in FIG. 13A, the host apparatus 305outputs a reproduction instruction to the drive apparatus 310 toreproduce data “B” at a location of LSN=32. The drive apparatus 310translates the location of LSN=32 into a location of PSN=1132 inaccordance with the primary logical address-physical address mapping.

The drive apparatus 310 retrieves the replacement management informationhaving a location of PSN=1132 as an original location in the latestreplacement management information list 1000.

In this case, the replacement management information 512 is found, thedrive apparatus 310 obtains a location of PSN=132 as a replacementlocation.

The drive apparatus 310 reproduces data “B” from the location of PSN=132and sends the reproduced data back to the host apparatus 305.

Even if the LSN specified by the host apparatus 305 is changed, thedrive apparatus 310 performs the same reproduction process.Specifically, the drive apparatus 310 translates the received LSN into aPSN in accordance with the primary logical address-physical addressmapping, and determines whether or not the replacement managementinformation corresponding to the PSN is found in the replacementmanagement information list 1000. If it is found, then the data isreproduced from the replacement cluster. If it is not found, then thedata is reproduced from the PSN.

As described above, it is possible to use the user data area 108 as anarea for a replacement location without any loss in the pseudo-overwriterecording for the information recording medium 100.

1-8. Procedure of Recording Process (3)

FIG. 18 shows a data structure of a DFL entry 2010. The DFL entry 2010is a different embodiment of the replacement management information 1010and the replacement management information 1010B described above.

The DFL entry 2010 includes status 1 2011A, status 2 2011B, a defectivecluster first PSN 2012 and a replacement cluster leading PSN 2013. Thestatus 1 2011A and the status 2 2011B correspond to the statusinformation 1011 described above. The defective cluster first PSN 2012corresponds to the original location information 1012 described above.The replacement cluster first PSN 2013 corresponds to the replacementlocation information 1013 described above.

Herein, similar to the explanation with reference to FIG. 5B, thedefective cluster first PNS 2012 and the replacement cluster first PSN2013 may be represented by a physical address (e.g. PSN) of the firstsector in the corresponding ECC cluster. This is because a mapping isperformed as a unit of ECC cluster in the defective management and thepseudo-overwrite recording.

The status 1 2011A includes at least information corresponding to Flag1and Flag2 in the replacement management information 1010B. For example,when the status 1 2011A has a value of “1000”, it is determined thatthere is no replacement cluster for the replacement information. Thiscorresponds to a case where Flag2=0 and there is no replacement cluster.In this case, a value of “0” is set to the replacement cluster first PSN2013.

On the other hand, when there exists a replacement cluster, a value of“0000” is set to the status 1 2011A. This corresponds to a case whereFlag2=0 and there is a replacement cluster.

The status 2 2011B includes at least information corresponding to Flag3in the replacement management information 1010B. For example, when thestatus 2 2011B has a value of “0000”, it is determined that thereplacement information corresponds to a single cluster. Thiscorresponds to a case where Flag3=00.

When the status 2 2011B has a value of “0001”, it is determined that thereplacement information corresponds to a location of the first sector ofa start cluster of a contiguous range including a plurality of clusters.This corresponds to a case where Flag3=01. When the status 2 2011B has avalue of “0010”, it is determined that the replacement informationcorresponds to a location of the last sector of an end cluster of acontiguous range including a plurality of clusters. This corresponds toa case where Flag3=10.

The DFL entry 2010 can be applied to all embodiments.

With reference to the data structure of the DFL entry 2010 shown in FIG.18 and the flowchart shown in FIG. 19A, an exemplary process for thereplacement management information in step S113 of FIG. 8A will bedescribed in detail.

Herein, it is assumed that the replacement recording for thepseudo-overwrite recording is performed in step S112 shown in FIG. 8Aand then the process proceeds to step S113.

(Step S301) It is determined whether the pseudo-overwrite recording is afirst time replacement recording or a second time or more replacementrecording.

This determination is performed, for example, by retrieving a DFL entry2010 having a value of the first PSN of the ECC cluster including thephysical address corresponding to the logical address included in therecording instruction as a value of the defective cluster first PSN 2012in the latest replacement management information list. The physicaladdress corresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction is obtained in step S103 shown in FIG. 8A.

This latest replacement management information list is reproduced fromthe disc management information area and is stored in the memory circuit312 in step S101 (FIG. 8A), for example.

When the corresponding replacement management information (e.g. the DFLentry 2010) is not found in the replacement management information list,it is determined that the pseudo-overwrite recording is a first timereplacement recording. As a result, the process proceeds to step S302.

When the corresponding replacement management information is found inthe replacement management information list, it is determined that thepseudo-overwrite recording is a second time or more replacementrecording. As a result, the process proceeds to step S304.

Whether the pseudo-overwrite recording is a first time replacementrecording or a second time or more replacement recording may bepredetermined in another step. For example, it may be predetermined instep S106. The determination result in step S106 may be held and may beused in step S301.

(Step S302) The first time replacement recording is performed asfollows.

The drive control section 311 creates a new DFL entry 2010 and stores itin the memory circuit 312.

(Step S303) The drive control section 311 sets values to the DFL entry2010.

An appropriate value is set to the status 1 2011A of the DFL entry 2010.For example, when the replacement recording is performed with thereplacement cluster, the value of “0000” is set to the status 1 2011A ofthe DFL entry 2010.

A value of a first PSN of the ECC cluster located at the physicaladdress corresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction is set to the defective cluster first PSN 2012 of the DFLentry 2010.

A value of a first PSN of the replacement cluster in which the data isactually recorded in the replacement recording is set to the replacementcluster first PSN 2013 of the DFL entry 2010.

An appropriate value is set to the status 2 2011B of the DFL entry 2010.For example, when the replacement recording is performed for the singlecluster, the value of “0000” is set to the status 2 2011B of the DFLentry 2010.

(Step S304) The second time or more replacement recording is performedas follows.

The process proceeds to step S305 in order to update the DFL entry 2010which has been found in step S301.

(Step S305) The status 1 2011A of the DFL entry 2010 is updated to anappropriate value. For example, when the replacement recording isperformed and there exists a replacement cluster, the value of “0000” isset to the status 1 2011A of the DFL entry 2010.

The replacement cluster first PSN 2013 of the DFL entry 2010 is updatedto a value of a first PSN of the replacement cluster in which the datais actually recorded in the replacement recording. That is, the locationof a new replacement cluster is set.

It is not necessary to update the defective cluster first PSN 2012 ofthe DFL entry 2010, since the second time or more replacement recordingis performed for the same ECC cluster. The defective cluster first PSN2012 of the DFL entry 2010 maintains the same value.

The status 2 2011B of the DFL entry 2010 is updated to an appropriatevalue. For example, when the replacement recording is performed for thesingle cluster, the value of “0000” is set to the status 2 2011B of theDFL entry 2010.

(Step S306) According to the process mentioned above, the replacementmanagement information list is updated. That is, a new DFL entry 2010 isadded to the replacement management information list or the existing DFLentry 2010 in the replacement management information list is updated.

Then, the replacement management information list is sorted. Forexample, the replacement management information list is sorted by thestatus 1 2011A. Further, the replacement management information list issorted by the defective cluster first PSN 2012, the status 2 2011B andthe replacement cluster first PSN 2013, in this order.

The process of step S113 shown in FIG. 8A is terminated. The latestreplacement management information list obtained in the process isadditionally recorded in the (temporary) disc management informationarea.

In the exemplary process, a case is described where the replacementrecording for the pseudo-overwrite recording is performed. However, theprocess can be also applied to the replacement recording due to theoccurrence of the defective cluster.

As described in the background art with reference to FIGS. 33A and 33B,in the conventional defective management for the write-once opticaldiscs, new replacement management information is added to thereplacement management information list each time the replacementrecording is performed, while maintaining the existing replacementmanagement information in the replacement management information list.

When such a method is applied to a recording method in which the userdata area is used as an area for recording a replacement cluster asdescribed in the present embodiment, the number of the replacementmanagement information is increased each time the replacement recordingis performed, and the size of the replacement management informationlist is increased each time the replacement recording is performed. Thisis not preferable in implementing the drive apparatus and the like.

In particular, in the conventional defective management for thewrite-once optical discs, the cluster which has been replaced withanother cluster is not further replaced. However, in thepseudo-overwrite recording as described in the present embodiment, it ispossible to further replace the cluster which has been replaced withanother cluster. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the size ofthe replacement management information list is much increased.

Further, it is possible that there exists a plurality of replacementmanagement information in the replacement management information list,wherein each of the plurality of replacement management information hasthe same value as the defective cluster first PSN 2012. Accordingly, anadditional process and/or structure are required to obtain the latestreplacement management information.

In the defective management for the rewritable optical discs, thereplacement management information is provided for every replacementcluster, regardless of whether or not the replacement cluster isactually used.

When such a method is applied to a recording method in which the userdata area is used as an area for recording a replacement cluster asdescribed in the present embodiment, a large amount of replacementmanagement information is required from an initial state. This is notpreferable in implementing the drive apparatus and the like.

According to the method shown in FIG. 19A, it is sufficient to generateand manage the minimum number of replacement management information. Itis possible to easily find the latest replacement managementinformation.

1-9. Procedure of Recording Process (4)

With reference to FIG. 19B, an exemplary process of the replacementmanagement information in the procedure of the recording process will bedescribed in more detail.

The respective steps shown in FIG. 19B are included in step S113 shownin FIG. 8A. The following description refers to a data structure of theDFL entry 2010 which is an example of the replacement managementinformation shown in FIG. 18.

Herein, it is assumed that the replacement recording for thepseudo-overwrite recording is performed in step S112 shown in FIG. 8Aand then the process proceeds to step S113.

(Step S601) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not thearea specified by the recording instruction is a contiguous range in thephysical address space.

For example, the drive control section 311 determines the size of thearea on the physical address space based on the recording locationspecified by the recording instruction and the size of the data to berecorded specified by the recording instruction. When the size of thearea on the physical address space which is thus determined is greaterthan the size of one ECC cluster, the drive control section 311determines that the area specified by the recording instruction is acontiguous range in the physical address space.

If the determination result in step S601 is “Yes”, then the processproceeds to step S602. If the determination result in step S601 is “No”,then the process proceeds to step S603.

(Step S602) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not thearea in which the data is actually recorded in step S112 is a contiguousrange in the physical address space.

For example, the size of the area in which the data is actually recordedin step S112 is equal to the size of the area specified by the recordinginstruction, the drive control section 311 determines that the area inwhich the data is actually recorded in step S112 is a contiguous rangein the physical address space.

If the determination result in step S602 is “Yes”, then the processproceeds to step S604. If the determination result in step S602 is “No”,then the process proceeds to step S603.

(Step S603) The drive control section 311 performs the process describedwith reference to FIG. 19A, for example.

(Step S604) The drive control section 311 determines whether thepseudo-overwrite recording is a first time replacement recording or asecond time or replacement recording.

Such a determination is performed, for example, by retrieving the latestreplacement management information list to determine whether or not afirst DFL entry 2010 (status 2 2011B=“0001”) and a second DFL entry 2010(status 2 2011B=“0010”), each of which having original locationinformation indicating the same area as the contiguous range determinedin step S601, are found in the replacement management information list.

When the first DFL entry 2010 and the second DFL entry 2010 are notfound in the replacement management information list, it is determinedthat the pseudo-overwrite recording is a first time replacementrecording. As a result, the process proceeds to step S605.

When the first DFL entry 2010 and the second DFL entry 2010 are found inthe replacement management information list, it is determined that thepseudo-overwrite recording is a second time or more replacementrecording. As a result, the process proceeds to step S607.

(Step S605) The drive control section 311 creates new first DFL entry2010 and a new second DFL entry 2010 and stores them in the memorycircuit 312.

(Step S606) The drive control section 311 sets values to the first DFLentry 2010 and the second DFL entry 2010.

A value of “0000” indicating that the replacement recording is performedand there exists a replacement cluster is set to the status 1 2011A ofthe first DFL entry 2010.

A value of a first PSN of the ECC cluster including a start location ofthe area specified by the recording instruction is set to the defectivecluster first PSN 2012 of the first DFL entry 2010.

A value of a first PSN of the ECC cluster including a start location ofthe contiguous range in which the data is actually recorded is set tothe replacement cluster first PSN 2013 of the first DFL entry 2010.

A value of “0001” indicating a start location of the contiguous range isset to the status 2 2011B of the first DFL entry 2010.

A value of “0000” indicating that the replacement recording is performedand there exists a replacement cluster is set to the status 1 2011A ofthe second DFL entry 2010.

A value of a first PSN of the ECC cluster including an end location ofthe area specified by the recording instruction is set to the defectivecluster first PSN 2012 of the second DFL entry 2010. The end location ofthe area specified by the recording instruction is calculated, forexample, by the physical address corresponding to the logical addressand the length of the data to be recorded, which are specified by therecording instruction.

A value of a first PSN of the ECC cluster including an end location ofthe contiguous range in which the data is actually recorded is set tothe replacement cluster first PSN 2013 of the second DFL entry 2010.

A value of “0010” indicating an end location of the contiguous range isset to the status 2 2011B of the second DFL entry 2010.

(Step S607) The drive control section 311 performs an update process forthe first DFL entry 2010 and the second DFL entry 2010 found in stepS604. Specifically, the update process is performed by setting values tothe first DFL entry 2010 and the second DFL entry 2010 in step S608.

(Step S608) The drive control section 311 sets values to the first DFLentry 2010 and the second DFL entry 2010.

A value of a first PSN of the ECC cluster including a start location ofthe contiguous range in which the data is actually recorded is set tothe replacement cluster first PSN 2013 of the first DFL entry 2010. Thatis, the start location of a new replacement range is set.

It is not necessary to update the defective cluster first PSN 2012 ofthe first DFL entry 2010, since the second time or more replacementrecording is performed for the same ECC cluster. The defective clusterfirst PSN 2012 of the first DFL entry 2010 maintains the same value.

A value of a first PSN of the ECC cluster including an end location ofthe contiguous range in which the data is actually recorded is set tothe replacement cluster first PSN 2013 of the second DFL entry 2010.That is, the end location of a new replacement range is set.

It is not necessary to update the defective cluster first PSN 2012 ofthe second DFL entry 2010, since the second time or more replacementrecording is performed for the same ECC cluster. The defective clusterfirst PSN 2012 of the second DFL entry 2010 maintains the same value.

(Step S609) According to the process mentioned above, the replacementmanagement information list is updated. That is, a new first DFL entry2010 and a new second DFL entry 2010 are added to the replacementmanagement information list or the existing first DFL entry 2010 and theexisting second DFL entry 2010 in the replacement management informationlist are updated.

Then, the replacement management information list is sorted. Forexample, the replacement management information list is sorted by thestatus 1 2011A. Further, the replacement management information list maybe sorted by the defective cluster first PSN 2012, the status 2 2011Band the replacement cluster first PSN 2013, in this order.

The process of step S113 shown in FIG. 8A is terminated. The latestreplacement management information list obtained in the process isadditionally recorded in the (temporary) disc management informationarea.

In the exemplary process, a case is described where the replacementrecording for the pseudo-overwrite recording is performed. However, theprocess can be also applied to the replacement recording due to theoccurrence of the defective cluster.

With reference to FIGS. 20A to 24B, the procedure of the data recordingwill be further described.

FIG. 20A shows a physical address space and a logical address space onthe information recording medium 100, which is similar to FIG. 13A andthe like.

FIG. 20A shows a state in which data “A0” is recorded at the location ofLSN=0 immediately after the formatting process. In the physical space,data “A0” is recorded in the location of PSN=1000.

The location of LSN=0 and the location of PSN=1000 maintain therelationship of the primary logical address-physical address mapping.

FIG. 20B shows a replacement management information list correspondingto FIG. 20A. The replacement management information list includes headerinformation 1001 only and does not include any replacement managementinformation.

In the state shown in FIG. 20A, it is assumed that the drive apparatus310 is instructed by the host apparatus 305 to record data “A1” at thelocation of LSN=0.

FIG. 21A shows a state in which the recording of data “A1” is completed.

As shown in FIG. 21A, data “A1” is recorded at the location of PSN=1132in the user data area 108 instead of the location of PSN=1000 in theuser data area 108, for example. This is because the data has beenalready recorded at the location of PSN=1000.

This replacement recording is a first time replacement recording.Accordingly, in accordance with step S302 and the subsequent steps shownin FIG. 19A, the process for the first time replacement recording isperformed. As a result, the DFL entry 2100A shown in FIG. 21B is addedto the replacement management information list.

Next, in the state shown in FIG. 21A, it is assumed that the driveapparatus 310 is instructed by the host apparatus 305 to record data“A2” at the location of LSN=0.

FIG. 22A shows a state in which the recording of data “A2” is completed.

As shown in FIG. 22A, data “A2” is recorded at the location of PSN=1164in the user data area 108 instead of the location of PSN=1000 in theuser data area 108, for example. This is because the data has beenalready recorded at the location of PSN=1000.

This replacement recording is a second time or more replacementrecording. Accordingly, in accordance with step S304 and the subsequentsteps shown in FIG. 19A, the process for the second time or morereplacement recording is performed. As a result, the DFL entry 2100A isupdated to the DFL entry 2100B shown in FIG. 22B. That is, any DFL entryis not added to the replacement management information list.

Next, in the state shown in FIG. 22A, it is assumed that the driveapparatus 310 is instructed by the host apparatus 305 to record data“B0” at the location of LSN=96 and to record data “C0” at the locationof LSNs=128 to 192.

FIG. 23A shows a state in which the recording of data “B0” and data “C0”is completed.

As shown in FIG. 23A, it is assumed that an error occurs during theverify process for verifying the recording of data “B0” at the locationof PSN=1192.

In this case, data “B0” is recorded at the location of PSN=x10 in theouter spare area 107 instead of the location of PSN=1193 in the userdata area 108, for example.

This replacement recording is a first time replacement recording.Accordingly, in accordance with step S302 and the subsequent steps shownin FIG. 19A, the process for the first time replacement recording isperformed. As a result, the DFL entry 2101A shown in FIG. 23B is addedto the replacement management information list.

It is assumed that the verify process for verifying the recording ofdata “C0” has been successfully completed. In this case, the replacementmanagement information list is maintained without any change.

Next, in the state shown in FIG. 23A, it is assumed that the driveapparatus 310 is instructed by the host apparatus 305 to record data“C1” at the location of LSNs=128 to 192.

FIG. 24A shows a state in which the recording of data “C1” is completed.

As shown in FIG. 24A, data “C1” is recorded at the location of PSNs=1324to 1388 in the user data area 108 instead of the location of PSNs=1288to 1292 in the user data area 108, for example. This is because the datahas been already recorded at the location of PSNs=1288 to 1292.

This replacement recording is a first time replacement recording.Accordingly, in accordance with step S302 and the subsequent steps shownin FIG. 19A, the process for the first time replacement recording isperformed. As a result, the DFL entry 2102A and the DFL entry 2103Ashown in FIG. 24B are added to the replacement management informationlist.

This replacement recording is based on a replacement of the contiguousrange 2200 (PSNs=1228 to 1292) with the contiguous range 2201 (PSNs=1324to 1388). The replacement is represented using the DFL entry 2012Aindicating start location of the replacement range and the DFL entry2103A indicating end location of the replacement range.

Thus, in the pseudo-overwrite recording which replaces the contiguousrange 2200 with the contiguous range 2201 in the user data area 108, thedrive apparatus 310 generates a first replacement management information(DFL entry 2102A) for mapping the start location of the contiguous range2200 to the start location of the contiguous range 2201 and a secondreplacement management information (DFL entry 2103A) for mapping the endlocation of the contiguous range 2200 to the end location of thecontiguous range 2201.

Although the replacement recording is performed for the contiguous rangeincluding three ECC clusters, only two DFL entries are added to thereplacement management information list. This is an effect obtained byusing the DFL entry 2102A and the DFL entry 2103A which map thecontiguous range 2200 to the contiguous range 2201 in the user data area108.

Regarding the replacement of the contiguous range, when thepseudo-overwrite recording is a second time or more replacementrecording, it is needless to say that the existing DFL entries areupdated.

Embodiment 2

2-1. Procedure of NWA Determining Process

Hereinafter, a method for determining a next writable addressrepresented by a logical address (hereinafter, “logical NWA”) will bedescribed. The drive device 310 returns the logical NWA back to the hostapparatus 305 in response to a request from the host apparatus 305.

The logical NWA is determined in accordance with the following procedurein the present invention.

An ECC cluster which is next to the ECC cluster including the physicalsector indicated by the LRA is determined. This ECC cluster is a nextwritable ECC cluster. The first physical sector of the next writable ECCcluster is a next writable address. The next writable addressrepresented by a physical address is the NWA described above.

The logical NWA has a value which is obtained by translating the valueof the PSN indicated by the NWA into a value of the LSN in accordancewith the primary logical address-physical address mapping.

Several specific examples will be described below.

In the state shown in FIG. 12, the LRA 500 indicates a leading positionof the user data area 108. In this state, the NWA in the physicaladdress space is PSN=1100. The LSN corresponding to PSN=1000 is LSN=0.Therefore, the logical NWA=0.

In FIG. 13A, the host apparatus 305 obtains the logical NWA from thedrive apparatus 310 and instructs the drive apparatus 310 to record data“A” at the location of LSN=0.

In the state immediately after the recording of data “A” is completed,the LRA of the track #1 indicates an ECC cluster including the locationof PSN=1132. In this state, the NWA is PSN=1132. Accordingly, thelogical NWA is LSN=32. The host apparatus 305 can instruct the driveapparatus 310 to record data “B” at the logical NWA (i.e. LSN=32).

In the state immediately after the recording of data “B” is completed,the LRA of the track #1 indicates a physical sector within an ECCcluster including the location of PSN=1132. In this state, the NWA isPSN=1164. Accordingly, the logical NWA is LSN=64.

The feature of the method for determining a logical NWA described aboveis to determine the logical NWA to maintain the relationship of theprimary logical address-physical address mapping. Specifically, the NWAis determined from the LRA within a track and then the logical NWA isobtained in accordance with the primary logical address-physical addressmapping. As a result, the replacement management information 1010B isnot required for the new data recording.

In FIG. 14A, it is possible that the host apparatus 305 erroneouslyholds a value corresponding to the LRA 501B as the logical NWA, eventhrough the actual latest logical NWA should correspond to the LRA 500B.

For example, such a state may be caused when the drive apparatus 310performs a recording operation for recording data at the location afterPSN=1292 as an operation independent of the host apparatus 305 and thehost apparatus 305 does not obtain the latest logical NWA from the driveapparatus 310.

In this state, when the host apparatus 305 instructs the drive apparatus310 to record new data, the host apparatus 305 outputs a recordinginstruction for recording data at the logical NWA corresponding to theLRA 501B. However, the drive apparatus 310 records the data at thelocation of PSN=1336.

This recording causes a replacement recording. Accordingly, newreplacement management information is required.

On the other hand, when the host apparatus 305 instructs the driveapparatus 310 to record new data, after it obtains the logical NWAcorresponding to the latest LRA 500B from the drive apparatus 310, therecording does not cause any replacement recording. Accordingly, any newreplacement management information is not required.

In FIGS. 15A and 16A, a similar state may be caused. In FIGS. 15A and16A, it is possible that the host apparatus 305 erroneously holds avalue corresponding to the LRA 501C as the logical NWA, even through theactual latest logical NWA should correspond to the LRA 5000 and the LRA500D.

Therefore, it is desirable that the host apparatus 305 obtains thelatest logical NWA before recording a new data.

In summary, when the host apparatus 305 instructs the drive apparatus310 to record new data, the host apparatus 305 outputs a request to thedrive apparatus 310 immediately before step S102 shown in FIG. 8A, forexample, in order to obtain the latest logical NWA from the driveapparatus 310. Upon receipt of the request, the drive apparatus 310determines the logical NWA from the LRA and the NWA in accordance withthe process described above and returns the logical NWA back to the hostapparatus 305.

Upon receipt of the logical NWA, the host apparatus 305 generates a nextrecording instruction based on the logical NWA and outputs the nextrecording instruction to the drive apparatus 310.

By performing the operations described above, the replacement managementinformation 1010B is not required for recording new data. Thereplacement management information 1010B is required for performing thereplacement recording only.

As a result, it is possible to restrict increasing the data amount ofthe replacement management information list 1000. This provides aneffect such as the reduction of the amount of processing in the datarecording/reproduction, the reduction of the size of the memory, thereduction of the data size on the information recording medium 100 andthe like.

Embodiment 3

3-1. Procedure of Recording Process (1)

A method for determining NWA described in the embodiment 2 causes astate in which a particular LSN is not used.

For example, in FIG. 14A, the logical sector at the location of LSN=96is a logical sector in which any data has not been recorded when it isseen from the host apparatus 305 or the file system.

Such a logical sector is referred to as an unrecorded logical sector ora unused logical sector, an orphan logical sector and the like.

A logical cluster consisting of the unrecorded logical sectors isreferred to as an unrecorded logical cluster. For example, in FIG. 14A,the logical cluster corresponding to the location of LSNs=96 to 127 isan unrecorded logical cluster.

Similarly, in FIG. 15A, the logical sector corresponding to the locationof LSN=X2 is an unrecorded logical sector.

As shown in FIG. 14A and the like, the LSNs are assigned to theunrecorded logical sectors in the same manner as other normal logicalsectors. Further, it is the feature of the method for determininglogical NWA according to the present embodiment that the LSNs of thelogical sectors subsequent to the unrecorded logical sector are notchanged.

When it is instructed to record data at the unrecorded logical sector,the pseudo-overwrite recording is performed in a similar manner as theembodiments described above. For example, the following process isperformed.

Herein, in the state shown in FIG. 14A, it is assumed that it isinstructed to record data “F” at the location of LSN=96.

In this case, the drive apparatus 310 translates LSN=96 into PSN=1196 inaccordance with the primary logical address-physical address mapping.

By comparing the location of PSN=1196 with the location indicated by theNWA, it is recognized that the data is recorded at the location ofPSN=1196.

Then, the pseudo-overwrite recording is performed in a similar manner asthe other embodiments described above.

In this case, the drive apparatus 310 records data “F” at the locationindicated by the NWA (e.g. the location of PSN=1336) and generatesreplacement management information 518.

Thus, the data recording is performed for the location of LSN=96. As aresult, a logical cluster corresponding to the location of LSN=96changes from the unrecorded logical cluster to the normal logicalcluster.

A logical cluster corresponding to the location of LSNs=256 to 287associated with the location of PSN=1336 in accordance with the primarylogical address-physical address mapping newly becomes an unrecordedcluster.

FIGS. 17A and 17B show a state after the recording of data “G” iscompleted.

3-2. Procedure of Reproduction Process (1)

In FIG. 14A, the logical cluster at the location of LSN=224 is anunrecorded logical cluster.

The physical cluster corresponding to the unrecorded logical cluster atthe location of LSN=223 is a physical cluster at the location ofPSN=1324. The relationship between the LSNs and the PSNs arepredetermined in accordance with the primary logical address-physicaladdress mapping.

The physical cluster at the location of PSN=1324 is related to thephysical cluster at the location of PSN=1228 by the replacementmanagement information 514.

The physical cluster at the location of PSN=1228 is mapped to thelogical cluster at the location of LSN=128 in accordance with theprimary logical address-physical address mapping.

Thus, the physical cluster at the location of PSN=1228 is assigned tothe logical cluster at the location of LSN=128 and the unrecordedlogical cluster at the location of LSN=224.

The procedure of the reproduction process will be described in a casewhere two logical clusters are assigned to one physical cluster.

The host apparatus 305 outputs a reproduction instruction for thelocation of LSN=128 to the drive apparatus 310. Upon the receipt of thereproduction instruction, the drive apparatus 310 translates the LSNinto the PSN in accordance with the primary logical address-physicaladdress mapping. The PSN is referred to as a reproduction PSN.

In this case, the reproduction PSN is PSN=1228. Replacement managementinformation having the location of PSN=1228 as the replacement locationis retrieved in the replacement management information list. As aresult, the replacement management information 514A is found.

The replacement cluster indicated by the replacement managementinformation 514A is a physical cluster at the location of PSN=1324. Thedata recorded in the physical cluster at the location of PSN=1324 isreproduced.

The host apparatus 305 outputs a reproduction instruction for thelocation of LSN=224 to the drive apparatus 310. Upon the receipt of thereproduction instruction, the drive apparatus 310 translates the LSNinto the reproduction PSN in accordance with the primary logicaladdress-physical address mapping.

In this case, the reproduction PSN is PSN=1324. Replacement managementinformation having the location of PSN=1324 as the replacement locationis retrieved in the replacement management information list. However,such replacement management information is not found.

The drive apparatus 310 reproduces data recorded in the physical clusterat the location of PSN=1324.

According to the reproduction process described above, when the hostapparatus 305 outputs a reproduction instruction for the location of anunrecorded logical sector in which any data has not been logicallyrecorded, it is possible to reproduce data recorded in the physicalsector corresponding to the unrecorded logical sector.

As a result, it is seen from the file system and the like at the side ofthe host apparatus 305 that there is no exceptional area on theinformation recording medium 100. Further, it is not necessary toimplement a complex error process in the system structure. It ispossible to configure the system with a simplified implementation.

Upon the receipt of a reproduction instruction for an unrecorded logicalsector, if the drive apparatus 310 reproduces data recorded in thephysical cluster corresponding to the unrecorded logical sector, thenthe data which should not be essentially reproduced is reproduced. Ifsuch a reproduction is inconvenient for the system configuration, it ispossible to adopt the following procedure for the reproduction process.

The drive apparatus 310 translates the LSN specified by the reproductioninstruction into a PSN in accordance with the primary logicaladdress-physical address mapping, and retrieves the replacementmanagement information 1010B having the original location information1012 corresponding to the translated PSN in the replacement managementinformation list 1000.

If the replacement management information 1010B having the originallocation information 1012 corresponding to the translated PSN is found,the data is reproduced from the ECC cluster at the replacement locationindicated by the replacement location information 1013 of thereplacement management information 1010B in a similar manner as theother embodiments described above.

If it is not found, the drive apparatus 310 retrieves the replacementmanagement information 1010B having the replacement location information1013 corresponding to the translated PSN in the replacement managementinformation list 1000.

If the replacement management information 1010B having the replacementlocation information 1013 corresponding to the translated PSN is found,the ECC cluster indicated by the replacement location information 1013is determined as the replacement cluster in which the data has beenalready recorded.

Then, the drive apparatus 310 does not reproduce the data from thereplacement cluster. Instead, the drive apparatus 310 returns apredetermined data (e.g. data having a value of “00 . . . 0”) as thereproduced data back to the host apparatus 305.

According to the reproduction process described above, when it isinstructed to reproduce data from the unrecorded logical sector, thedata can be reproduced appropriately from the physical sectorcorresponding to the unrecorded logical sector.

Such a reproduction process can be performed when the drive apparatus310 receives the reproduction instruction from the host apparatus 305 ineach step of the reproduction process described with reference to FIG.10.

3-3. Comparison Between Procedures of NWA Determining Process

Unlike the embodiment described above, a method for determining alogical NWA will be described. In this method, any unrecorded logicalsector does not occur.

In this method, the logical LRA is managed, and a new data is recordedat the logical NWA which is adjacent to the logical LRA.

The LSN indicating the logical NWA is translated into a PSN inaccordance with the primary logical address-physical address mapping.The translated PSN is referred to as “PSN-1”.

The data is actually recorded at the NWA within an ECC cluster which isnext to the ECC cluster including the PSN indicated by the LRA 213. ThePSN indicated by the NWA is referred to as “PSN-2”.

The replacement recording is performed with the original location ofPSN-1 and the replacement location of PSN-2.

FIG. 25 shows a data structure of the track management information 3210according to the present embodiment. The track management information3210 is used to manage the logical NWA.

In the track management information 3210 shown in FIG. 25, last recordedlogical address information within track 3214 is newly defined.

The last recorded logical address information within track 3214 is usedto manage the last recorded address represented by LSN in the logicaladdress space, whereas the last recorded address information withintrack (LRA) 213 is used to manage the last recorded address representedby PSN in the physical address space.

The drive apparatus 310 can determine the logical NWA for each track byreferring to the last recorded logical address information within track3214.

The last recorded logical address information within track 3214 isupdated in the following manner.

The value of “0” is set to the last recorded logical address informationwithin track 3214 as an initial value. The drive apparatus 310 receivesa recording instruction including a LSN. When the LSN in the recordinginstruction is greater than the last recorded logical addressinformation within track 3214, the drive apparatus 310 updates the lastrecorded logical address information within track 3214 to the LSN.

According to the update process described above, it is possible tomaintain the last recorded logical address information within track 3214as being a maximum value.

FIG. 26A shows a data structure after the recording of data “A”, “B”,“C”, “1D”, “F” and “G” are completed in the same order as in FIGS. 13A,14A and 17A in accordance with the procedure of NWA determining processdescribed above.

In FIG. 26B, all of defective clusters are registered as the replacementmanagement information (7). However, it is possible to delete thesereplacement management information (7) from the replacement managementinformation list 1000F. By deleting these, the size of the replacementmanagement information list 1000F can be reduced.

By comparing the replacement management information list 1000E shown inFIG. 17B with the replacement management information list 1000F shown inFIG. 26B, it is understood that the number of the replacement managementinformation in the replacement management information list 1000E issmaller than the number of the replacement management information in thereplacement management information list 1000F.

By comparing these lists after deleting replacement managementinformation (7), it is also understood that the number of thereplacement management information in the replacement managementinformation list 1000E is much smaller than the number of thereplacement management information in the replacement managementinformation list 1000F.

Accordingly, the method for determining NWA while allowing theoccurrence of the unrecorded logical sector as described in embodiment 1and embodiment 2 is more desirable rather than the method which refersto FIG. 26A while not allowing the occurrence of the unrecorded logicalsector in that the size of replacement management information list canbe reduced.

By maintaining the replacement management information (7) in thereplacement management information list 1000F, it is possible torecognize the distribution of the defective clusters on the informationrecording medium 100. The distribution of the defective clusters can beused to optimize the reproduction process. Such an optimization is made,for example, by reading data in advance without reading data from thedefective sectors.

Embodiment 4

The procedure of the data recording according to the present embodimentwill be described.

FIG. 27 shows an exemplary data structure of the information recordingmedium 100 before performing the data recording according to the presentembodiment. In FIG. 27, each symbol of triangle indicates a boarderbetween the ECC clusters. Hereinafter, even in other figures, eachsymbol of triangle has the same meaning.

In the state shown in FIG. 27, it is assumed that the host apparatus 305outputs a recording instruction for data “D1” 4622 and data “E1” 4623 tothe drive apparatus 310. In this case, the procedure of the recordingprocess will be described.

The data recording for data “D1” 4622 is determined as thepseudo-overwrite recording at the location of PSN=a0 in the recordedarea 4600, for example.

Prior to outputting the recording instruction, the host apparatus 305outputs a request for the logical NWA to the drive apparatus 310.

Upon the receipt of the request for the logical NWA, the drive apparatus310 determines NWA 4611A from LRA 4610A and returns the logical NWAcorresponding to the NWA 4611A back to the host apparatus 305.

The host apparatus 305 outputs a recording instruction for recordingdata “D1” 4622 at the location of LSN=A0 corresponding to PSN=a0 to thedrive apparatus 310, and then outputs a recording instruction forrecording data “E1” 4623 at the location of LSN=A2 corresponding to NWA4611A (PSN=a2) to the drive apparatus 310.

FIG. 28 shows a recording result after the drive apparatus 310 performsa recording process for data “D1” 4622 and a recording process for data“E1” 4623 in accordance with the order of the recording instructions asinstructed by the host apparatus 305.

In this case, the data recording for data “D1” 4622 is determined as thepseudo-overwrite recording for the recorded area 4600. As a result, data“D1” 4622 is recorded at the location of NWA 4611A (PSN=a2) instead ofthe location of PSN=a0. Then, the NWA 4611A is updated to the NWA 4611B(PSN=a3).

As a result of this replacement recording, data “D1” 4622 is recorded atthe location of PSN=a2. As a result, data “E1” 4623 is recorded at thelocation of NWA 4611B (PSN=a3) instead of the location of PSN=a2.

Thus, although the host apparatus 305 outputs a recording instructionfor recording data “E1” 4623 at the location of LSN=A2 corresponding toNWA 4611A (PSN=a2) as described above, data “E1” 4623 is recorded at thelocation of PSN=a3 which is deferent from the location as instructed.

In this case, the replacement management information 1010 for data “D1”4622 is generated, and the replacement management information 1010 fordata “E1” 4623 is also generated. This causes a problem that the size ofthe replacement management information list 1000 is increased.

This problem is caused by the drive apparatus 310 performing thereplacement recording which is not expected by the host apparatus 305.

After performing the replacement recording by the drive apparatus 310,it is necessary to perform further replacement recording as the hostapparatus 305 outputs a recording instruction. This results inincreasing the size of the replacement management information list 1000.

Hereinafter, a method according to the present embodiment will bedescribed. In this method, the replacement management information 1010for data “E1” 4623 is not generated during the recording process.

In the present embodiment, in the state shown in FIG. 27, the hostapparatus 305 first outputs a recording instruction for the appendingrecording. Then, the host apparatus 305 outputs a recording instructionfor the pseudo-overwrite recording after outputting the recordinginstruction for the appending recording.

FIG. 29 shows a recording result after the drive apparatus 310 performsrecording processes in accordance with the order of the recordinginstructions as instructed by the host apparatus 305.

The file system operating on the host apparatus 305 can determine theorder of the recording instructions, since it manages updating allexisting files and creating new files.

In FIG. 29, data “E1” 4623B is recorded at the location of NWA 4611A(PSN=a2), and data “D1” 4622B is recorded at the location of PSN=a4.

The host apparatus 305 outputs a recording instruction for recordingdata “E1” 4623B at the location of NWA 4611A (PSN=a2) as describedabove. In the present embodiment, data “E1” 4623B is recorded at thelocation of PSN=a2 which is the same as the location as instructed. Thisdata recording is not a replacement recording.

Thus, the replacement management information 1010 for data “E1” 4623B isnot generated. As a result, it is possible to avoid increasing the sizeof the replacement management information list 1000.

In either case shown in FIG. 28 or the case shown in FIG. 29, the samenumber of the replacement management information 1010 is required inorder to record data “D1” 4622. Although the recording location (i.e.replacement location) of data “D1” 4622 are different from each other inFIGS. 28 and 29, the required number of the replacement managementinformation 1010 is maintained.

As described above, when the host apparatus 305 instructs the driveapparatus 310 to perform both of the pseudo-overwrite recording and theappending recording, the host apparatus 305 outputs a recordinginstruction for the appending recording to the drive apparatus 310 priorto outputting a recording instruction for the pseudo-overwrite recordingto the drive apparatus 310. This makes it possible to avoid generatingthe replacement management information 1010, thereby reducing the sizeof the replacement management information list 1000.

Embodiment 5

Herein, it is assumed the host apparatus 305 divides data having a sizeinto a plurality of portions, such that each of the plurality ofportions has a size of one ECC cluster. It is also assumed that the hostapparatus 305 sequentially outputs a recording instruction for eachportion of the data as a recording unit to the drive apparatus 310.

The drive apparatus 310 records the respective portions of the datacontiguously. It is assumed that a defective cluster including therecording location is detected, and a cluster which is adjacent to thedefective cluster is used as a replacement cluster in order to replacethe defective cluster with the replacement cluster.

In this case, the replacement recording is required for each recordingunit after the recording location. In the replacement recording, eachcluster is replaced by an adjacent cluster which is located in adirection along which the PSNs increase.

In this case, the replacement management information is required foreach recording unit. Accordingly, when the size of data to be recordedis very large, the large number of replacement management information isrequired, thereby increasing the size of the replacement managementinformation list 1000.

Hereinafter, a method according to the present embodiment will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 30. This method is effective to reducethe size of the replacement management information list 1000.

In FIG. 30, a replacement recording is performed in accordance with therecording instruction from the host apparatus 305. In the replacementrecording, it is assumed that the original location is original cluster5700.

The replacement location of the replacement recording is determined inthe following manner.

In FIG. 30, the replacement cluster maybe allocated in one of theunrecorded area 5601A (in track #N 5602), the unrecorded area 5612 (intrack #N+1 5610), the unrecorded area 5622 (in track #N+2 5620) and theunrecorded area 5632 (in track #N+3 5630). Each of these unrecordedareas is a candidate area for the replacement cluster.

Herein, a distance between the location of the original cluster 5700(e.g. the location of the first physical sector in the original cluster5700) and the location of the candidate area for the replacement cluster(e.g. the location of the NWA in the open track) is evaluated. Therespective distances with respect to the respective candidate areas forthe replacement cluster are D13, D12, D10 and D11, as shown in FIG. 30.

It is assumed that the respective distances satisfy the relationship ofD13>D12>D11>D10.

By selecting the unrecorded area 5622 which has a minimum distance D10as an area for the replacement cluster, it is possible to minimize adistance between the original cluster and the replacement cluster. As aresult, it is possible to minimize an access time in the datareproduction.

However, the unrecorded area 5622 is included in the same track #N+25620 as the original cluster 5700. Accordingly, when the unrecorded area5622 is selected as an area for the replacement cluster, it may cause aproblem that the size of the replacement management information list1000 is increased in the case where the drive apparatus 310 sequentiallyreceives a plurality of recording instructions from the host apparatus305 as described above.

According to the present embodiment, an unrecorded area which has aminimum distance from the original cluster is selected as an area forthe replacement cluster. However, during the selection process, anunrecorded area included in the same track as the original cluster isexcluded from the selection.

In FIG. 30, the unrecorded area 5622 which has a minimum distance D10 isexcluded from the selection. The unrecorded area 5632 which has the nextminimum distance D11 is selected as an area for the replacement cluster.

Thus, upon receipt of the recording instruction for the original cluster5700 from the host apparatus 305, the drive apparatus 310 allocates thereplacement cluster 5710 at the location of NWA in the unrecorded area5632 and records data in the replacement cluster 5710.

The drive apparatus 310 generates the replacement management informationwhich maps the original cluster 5700 to the replacement cluster 5710 andrecords the replacement management information.

As described in steps S107 and S112 (FIG. 8A), when the drive controlsection 311 according to the present invention performs thepseudo-overwrite recording, it controls the recording/reproductionsection 314 to record data at a specific location in the user data area108, which is other than the location indicated by the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the received recordinginstruction.

In the present embodiment, the specific location is the NWA within anopen track which is different from the track determined in step S104(FIG. 8A).

Further, the NWA within the open track indicates a location which is theclosest to the location indicated by the physical address correspondingto the logical address included in the recording instruction.

According to the procedure of the recording process, even if the hostapparatus 305 further outputs a recording instruction to the driveapparatus 310, the data recording for the unrecorded area 5622 does notcause any replacement recording. The addition of the replacementmanagement information is not required.

A distance between the original location and the replacement locationbecomes minimum, except for a case where the original location and thereplacement location are included in the same track. As a result, it ispossible to reduce an access time in the data reproduction.

The drive apparatus 310 may determine the location of the replacementcluster by evaluating a distance between the original cluster and anunrecorded area which has PSNs greater than the PSNs of the originalcluster. In the write-once recording mediums, a sequential recording isperformed in a direction along which the PSNs increase. Accordingly, itis possible to efficiently access data by replacing the original clusterwith the replacement cluster which has PSNs greater than the PSNs of theoriginal cluster.

In this case, if there is no remaining unrecorded area which has PSNsgreater than the PSNs of the original cluster, then the drive apparatus310 may determine the location of the replacement cluster by evaluatinga distance between the original cluster and an unrecorded area which hasPSNs smaller than the PSNs of the original cluster.

When there are a plurality of unrecorded areas which have the samedistance from the original cluster, it is desirable to select one of theplurality of unrecorded areas, which has PSNs greater than the PSNs ofthe original cluster. In the write-once recording mediums, a sequentialrecording is performed in a direction along which the PSNs increase.Accordingly, it is possible to efficiently access data by replacing theoriginal cluster with the replacement cluster which has PSNs greaterthan the PSNs of the original cluster.

The distance between the original location and the replacement locationmay be determined from a difference between a PSN indicating theoriginal location and a PSN indicating the replacement location.Alternatively, the distance may be determined from a physical distancebetween the original location and the replacement location. This isbecause the difference between the PSNs does not necessarily correspondto the physical distance, since the PSNs increase from the inner side tothe outer side in a spiral manner in the information recording medium100. For example, with respect to ECC clusters which are adjacent toeach other in a radius direction, even if the physical distance is closeto zero, the difference between the PSNs does not become minimum.

Embodiment 6

With reference to FIG. 34, a procedure of data recording according tothe present embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, theinformation recording/reproduction apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 6 is usedfor recording data on the information recording medium 100. The stepsshown in FIG. 34 are performed by the drive control section 311 of thedrive apparatus 310.

(Step S1101) The drive control section 311 receives a recordinginstruction from a host apparatus 305. The recording instructiondesignates data to be recorded, and a logical address indicating alocation where the data is to be recorded.

This process is the same as the process of step S102 shown in FIG. 8A.

(Step S1102) The drive control section 311 translates the logicaladdress included in the recording instruction into a physical address.Such translation is performed in accordance with, for example, theprimary logical address-physical address mapping.

This process is the same as the process of step S103 shown in FIG. 8A.

(Step S1103) The drive control section 311 determines one of at leastone tracks allocated to a user data area 108. Such determination is madebased on, for example, the physical address corresponding to the logicaladdress included in the recording instruction, and track managementinformation 210 (FIG. 2B) included in disc management information. Thetrack management information 210 indicates a range of the tracks on adata area 102. Thus, if a physical address is known, the correspondingtrack can be determined.

This process is the same as the process of step S104 shown in FIG. 8A.

(Step S1104) The drive control section 311 determines whether the trackdetermined in step S1103 is an open track or a closed track. Suchdetermination is made based on, for example, the track managementinformation 210 (FIG. 2B). The header information 201 includes a tracknumber of an open track. Therefore, any track having a track numberwhich is not included in the header information 201 is a closed track.

See Embodiment 1 for the definition of the open track and for thedefinition of the closed track.

When the present invention is applied to the BD-R specification, theterm “open track” in the present specification should be read as an openSRR, and the term “closed track” in the present specification should beread as a closed SRR.

In step S1104, when it is determined as an open track the processproceeds to step S1105, and when it is determined as a closed track, theprocess proceeds to step S1106.

(Step S1105) In this step, a recording process for the open track isperformed. The recording process for the open track includes, forexample, steps S105 to S114 shown in FIG. 8A.

(Step S1106) In this step, a recording process for the closed track isperformed. The recording process for the closed track includes, forexample, steps S106 to S114 shown in FIG. 8A.

More specifically, in the recording process for the closed track, thepseudo-overwrite recording is performed. In the case, the replacementlocation may be an NWA of an open track which is different from theclosed track determined in step S1104.

Hereinafter, an exemplary process of the data recording shown in FIG. 34will be described.

FIG. 35A shows an exemplary data structure of the information recordingmedium 100 before the data recording shown in FIG. 34 is performed.

In the example shown in FIG. 35A, track #N−1 and track #N are allocatedto the user data area 108. In this example, the track #N−1 is an opentrack.

The track #N−1 includes a recorded area 6600 and an unrecorded area6602.

In the state as shown in FIG. 35A, it is assumed that the drive controlsection 311 received a recording instruction from the host apparatus305. In this example, the recording instruction is an instruction forrecording data “A” 6602 at a location of LSN=A1 (PSN=a1).

In the conventional sequential recording method, such a recordinginstruction causes a recording error because LSN=A1 is larger than NWA6611A.

Alternatively, it is possible to define that such a recordinginstruction does not any a recording error. In this case, as shown inFIG. 36A, dummy data or padding data (for example, with all the valuesbeing “00h”) is recorded in an area from PSN=b1 to PSN=a1, and data “A”6602 is recorded in a subsequent area. Such a process is achieved by,for example, inserting a step of recording dummy data or padding dataimmediately before step S112 shown in FIG. 8A.

According to this method, data “A” 6602 is recorded at the location ofPSN=a1. However, there is another problem that an extra operation, i.e.,recording of padding data is required, or the capacity of theinformation recording medium 100 wasted.

Further, the method shown in FIG. 36A can be used only when the track#N−1 is an open track since data is recorded additionally.

When the track #N−1 is a closed track, an appending recording isprohibited. Therefore, recording cannot be performed to a closed trackby the method shown in FIG. 36A.

In order to enable data recording irrespective of whether the track #N−1is an open track or a closed track, for example, as shown in FIG. 37A,data “A” 6602 may be recorded to a specific location in the spare areainstead of recording data “A” 6602 at the location of PSN=a1.

In the example shown in FIG. 37A, data “A” 6602 is recorded at thelocation of PSN=s1 in the inner spare area 106. Thus, in the exampleshown in FIG. 37A, any data is not recorded in the track #N−1. As aresult, the location of LRA 6610A is not updated.

The drive control section 311 generates replacement managementinformation 6615 in order to map the physical address (i.e., PSN=a1)corresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction to a physical address (i.e., PSN=s1) indicating the locationwhere data “A” 6602 is actually recorded.

FIG. 37B shows an exemplary data structure of the replacement managementinformation 6615. The replacement management information 6615 includes adefective cluster first PSN 2012 as an original location address, and areplacement cluster first PSN 2013 as a replacement location address. Inthe defective cluster first PSN 2012 of the replacement managementinformation 6615, the physical address corresponding to the logicaladdress included in the recording instruction (i.e., PSN=a1) is set. Inthe replacement cluster first PSN 2013 of the replacement managementinformation 6615, the physical address indicating the location wheredata “A” 6602 (i.e., PSN=s1) is actually recorded is set.

By generating such replacement management information 6615, even whenthe drive control section 311 receives, from the host apparatus 315, areproduction instruction for reproducing the data from the location ofLSN=A1, it is possible to reproduce data “A” 6602 from the location ofPSN=s1, instead of the location of PSN=a1 corresponding to the locationof LSN=A1.

Alternatively, when it is determined that the track #N−1 is an opentrack in step S1104, as shown in FIG. 38A, data “A” 6602 may be recordedat a location of NWA 6611A of the track #N−1 (i.e., the location ofPSN=b1). In this case, the LRA 6610A indicating the last recordedaddress within the track #N−1 is updated to the LRA 6610B as data “A”6602 is recorded.

The drive control section 311 generates replacement managementinformation 6616 in order to map the physical address corresponding tothe logical address included in the recording instruction (i.e., PSN=a1)to the physical address indicating the location where data “A” 6602 isactually recorded (i.e., PSN=b1).

FIG. 38B shows an exemplary data structure of replacement managementinformation 6616. The structure of the replacement managementinformation 6616 is same as the structure of the replacement managementinformation 6615. In the defective cluster first PSN 2012 of thereplacement management information 6616, the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction (i.e., PSN=a1) is set. In the replacement cluster first PSN2013 of the replacement management information 6616, the physicaladdress indicating the location where data “A” 6602 is actually recorded(i.e., PSN=b1) is set.

By generating such replacement management information 6616, even whenthe drive control section 311 receives, from the host apparatus 305, areproduction instruction for reproducing data from the location ofLSN=A1, it is possible to reproduce data “A” 6602 from the location ofPSN=b1 instead of the location of PSN=a1 corresponding to the locationof LSN=A1.

Alternatively, when it is determined that the track #N−1 is a closedtrack in step S1104, as shown in FIG. 39A, data “A” 6602 may be recordedat a location of NWA of the open track which is different from the track#N−1.

In the example shown in FIG. 39A, track #N which is adjacent to thetrack #N−1 is an open track. Thus, data “A” 6602 is recorded at alocation of NWA 6621A of the track #N. In this case, the LRA 6621Aindicating the last recorded address within the track #N is updated tothe LRA 6621B as data “A” 6602 is recorded. The LRA 6611A indicating thelast recorded address within the track #N−1 is not updated, since thetrack #N−1 is a closed track for which the data recording is instructed.

The open track different from the track #N is not limited to the trackadjacent to the track #N. The open track different from the track #N maybe any open track other than the track #N.

For example, the next writable address in an open track which is closeto the physical address corresponding to the logical address included inthe recording instruction is desirable in view of access performance.

The drive control section 311 generates replacement managementinformation 7615 in order to map the physical address corresponding tothe logical address included in the recording instruction (i.e., PSN=a1)to the physical address indicating the location where data “A” 6602 isactually recorded (i.e., PSN=b2).

FIG. 39B shows an exemplary data structure of the replacement managementinformation 7615. The structure of the replacement managementinformation 7615 is same as the structure of the replacement managementinformation 6615. In the defective cluster first PSN 2012 of thereplacement management information 7615, the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction (i.e., PSN=a1) is set. In the replacement cluster first PSN2013 of the replacement management information 7615, the physicaladdress indicating the location where data “A” 6602 is actually recorded(i.e., PSN=b2) is set.

By generating such replacement management information 7615, even whenthe drive control section 311 receives, from the host apparatus 305, areproduction instruction for reproducing data from the location ofLSN=A1, it is possible to reproduce data “A” 6602 from the location ofPSN=b2 instead of the location of PSN=a1 corresponding to the locationof LSN=A1.

In either example shown in FIGS. 37A, 38A and 39A, areas used in theinformation recording medium 100 is only for the size of data “A” 6602designated by the recording instruction, and there is no need to performineffective recording such as dummy data.

As described above, even when the physical address corresponding to thelogical address included in the recording instruction is larger than theNWA, by performing replacement recording using replacement managementinformation, recording error does not occur, and efficient datarecording becomes possible.

FIG. 40A shows an exemplary data structure of the information recordingmedium 100 before the data recording shown in FIG. 34 is performed.

In the example shown in FIG. 40A, track #N−1 and track #N are allocatedto the user data area 108. In this example, the track #N−1 is a closedtrack including an unrecorded area 6701. The track #N is an open track.

In the track #N−1, data “A” 6700 has already been recorded. However,since the track #N−1 is a closed track, any appending recording to thetrack #N−1 is prohibited.

This is because, as described above, the closed track is defined as atrack whose track number is not included in the header information 201.The closed track is a track for which additional data recording isprohibited.

Since the track #N is an open track, it is possible to appending recorddata in the track #N.

In the state shown in FIG. 40A, it is assumed that the drive controlsection 311 receives a recording instruction from the host apparatus305. In this example, it is assumed that the recording instruction is aninstruction for recording data “A1” 6703A at a location of LSN=A1(PSN=a1). The location of LSN=A1 (PSN=a1) is a location where data “A”6700 has already been recorded. Accordingly, the recording instructionis determined as an instruction for pseudo-overwriting data “A1” 6703 ondata “A” 6700.

Herein, it is assumed that data “A1” 6703A is recorded at a location ofNWA 6711A (i.e., a location of PSN=a2) in an unrecorded area in thetrack #N−1, which is a closed track, as shown in FIG. 41A.

In this case, the drive control section 311 generates replacementmanagement information 6730 in order to map a physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction (i.e., PSN=a1) and a physical address indicating thelocation where data “A1” 6703A is actually recorded (i.e., PSN=a2).

FIG. 41B shows an exemplary data structure of the replacement managementinformation 6730. The structure of the replacement managementinformation 6730 is same as the structure of the replacement managementinformation 6615. In the defective cluster first PSN 2012 of thereplacement management information 6730, the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction (i.e., PSN=a1) is set. In the replacement cluster first PSN2013 of the replacement management information 6730, the physicaladdress indicating the location where data “A1” 6703A is actuallyrecorded (i.e., PSN=a2) is set.

The LRA 6710A indicating the last recorded address within the track #N−1is updated to the LRA 6710B as data “A1” 6703A is recorded. Thus, it isrequired to update the LRA within the closed track in order to recorddata in an unrecorded area of the closed track.

As the recording capacity of the information recording medium 100increases, the number of the tracks which can be allocated to the userdata area 108 becomes significantly large. Particularly, as for closedtracks, the number will not decrease once they are allocated. (On theother hand, the number of the open tracks may increase or decrease. Forexample, the number of the open tracks decreases when some of the opentracks become closed tracks.)

As a result, the update process of the LRA in the closed track may be aprocess having a significantly large process amount.

In order to avoid such a process with a large process amount, in thepresent embodiment, similarly to the data recording procedure describedwith reference to FIG. 39A, when the track #N−1 is determined to be aclosed track, data “A1” 6703A is recorded at a location of NWA of anopen track different from the track #N−1 as shown in FIG. 42A.

In the example shown in FIG. 42A, the track #N adjacent to the track#N−1 is an open track. Thus, data “A1” 6703A is recorded at the locationof NWA 6721A within track #N.

The drive control section 311 generates replacement managementinformation 6733 in order to map the physical address corresponding tothe logical address included in the recording instruction (i.e., PSN=a1)to the physical address indicating the location where data “A1” 6703A isactually recorded (i.e., PSN=a3).

FIG. 42B shows an exemplary data structure of the replacement managementinformation 6733. The structure of the replacement managementinformation 6733 is same as the structure of the replacement managementinformation 6615. In the defective cluster first PSN 2012 of thereplacement management information 6733, the physical addresscorresponding to the logical address included in the recordinginstruction (i.e., PSN=a1) is set. In the replacement cluster first PSN2013 of the replacement management information 6733, the physicaladdress indicating the location where data “A1” 6703A is actuallyrecorded (i.e., PSN=a3) is set.

The LRA 6721A indicating the last recorded address within track #N isupdated to the LRA 6721B as data “A1” 6703A is recorded. However, it isnot necessary to update the LRA 6710A indicating the last recordedaddress within track #N−1. As described above, since data is recorded inan unrecorded area of an open track, a process for updating the LRA in aclosed track is not required.

According to the data recording described above, it is possible to notmanage the LRA 213 in the closed track while it is possible to performthe pseudo-overwrite recording for the closed track.

In Embodiment 1, it is described that recording of data may beimplemented by an RMW process.

If it is determined that an end of the data designated by the recordinginstruction does not match a boundary of the ECC clusters, and that thephysical address corresponding to the logical address included in therecording instruction is included in an unrecorded area of a closedtrack, then it is possible to insert padding data (e.g., “00h”) into thedata to be recorded such that the end of the data to which the paddingdata is inserted matches the boundary of the ECC clusters. The data towhich the padding data is inserted is recorded in the track.

Embodiment 7

As described above, in step S112 of FIG. 8A, data is recorded to alocation which is designated as a recording location. After data isrecorded, a process for determining whether or not the data recordinghas succeeded is performed. Such a process is called a verify process.When it is determined that the data recording has failed as a result ofthe verify process, it may be said that a verify error occurs. Theverify process is performed by, for example, reading the recorded datafrom the information recording medium 100, and determining whether ornot the read data matches the data to be recorded.

In the replacement recording as described above, there may be a casewhere a verify error occurs when data is recorded in a replacementcluster in the user data area 108. In this case, the replacement clusteris regarded as a defective cluster, and a new replacement cluster isallocated in the spare area. Then, data is recorded in the newreplacement cluster.

When a verify error occurs when data is recorded in the new replacementcluster in the spare area, a process for replacing the new replacementcluster with a further new replacement cluster in the spare area isrepeated.

FIG. 43 shows an exemplary procedure of the process performed in stepS112 of FIG. 8A. The steps shown in FIG. 43 are performed by the drivecontrol section 311 of the drive apparatus 310.

(Step S1108) The drive control section 311 records data at a specificlocation in the user data area 108. In this example, the specificlocation is determined in steps S107 and S110 of FIG. 8A.

(Step S1109) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not thedata recording for the user data area 108 has succeeded. Suchdetermination is performed by, for example, above-described verifyprocess. If the data recording has succeeded, the process proceeds tostep S113 of FIG. 8A. If it has failed, the process proceeds to stepS1110.

(Step S1110) The drive control section 311 records data at a specificlocation in the spare area (for example, the inner spare area 106 or theouter spare area 107). In this example, the specific location isdetermined by referring next available location information in the sparearea which is included in spare area management information 1108.

(Step S1111) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not thedata recording for the spare area has succeeded. Such determination ismade by performing, for example, above-described verify process. If thedata recording has succeeded, the process proceeds to step S113 of FIG.8A. If it has failed, the process returns to step S1110. As such, thedata recording for the spare area is repeated until the data recordingfor the spare area succeeds.

As described above, when there is a defective cluster in the user dataarea 108, at least a part of the inner spare area 106 and the outerspare area 107 is used as an area for recording a replacement clusterfor replacing the defective cluster.

Alternatively, at least a part of the inner spare area 106 and the outerspare area 107 may also be used as an area for recording data afterupdate in pseudo-overwrite recording described below.

More specifically, when there is a defective cluster in the user dataarea 108 due to a verify error generated in the replacement recording inthe pseudo-overwrite recording, at least part of the inner spare area106 and the outer spare area 107 may be used as an area for recordingdata after update in pseudo-overwrite recording.

Hereinafter, an example of a specific process according to the datarecording procedure is shown in FIGS. 34 and 43.

FIG. 44A shows an exemplary data structure of the information recordingmedium 100 before the data recording shown in FIG. 34 is performed.

In the example shown in FIG. 44A, track #M 7000 and track #N 7100 areallocated to a user data area 108. In this example, the track #M 7000 isan open track which includes a recorded area 7003 including data “A”7001 and an unrecorded area 7002.

The track #N 7100 is an open track including an unrecorded area 7102.

In the state shown in FIG. 44A, it is assumed that the drive controlsection 311 receives a recording instruction from the host apparatus305. In this example, it is assumed that the recording instruction is aninstruction for recording data “A1” 7101 at a location of LSN=A0(PSN=a0). In this example, the location of LSN=A0 (PSN=a0) is thelocation where data “A” 7001 has already been recorded. Thus, therecording instruction indicates pseudo-overwriting of data “A1” 7101 onthe data “A” 7001.

The drive control section 311 records data “A1” 7001A at a specificlocation in the user data area 108 (step S1108).

In the example shown in FIG. 45A, the data “A1” 7101A is recorded in areplacement cluster at a location of PSN=a1, which is a location of oneNWA in the user data area 108.

In this case, the drive control section 311 determines whether or notrecording of data “A1” 7101A to the replacement cluster at the locationof PSN=a1 has succeeded (Step S1109).

If the recording has succeeded, the drive control section 311 generatesreplacement management information 7200 shown in FIG. 45B. If it hasfailed, the drive control section 311 records data “A1” 7101A at aspecific location in the spare area (Step S1110).

In the example shown in FIG. 46A, the data “A1” 7101A is recorded in areplacement cluster at a location of PSN=s1, which is a location in aninner spare area 106. In this case, the drive control section 311determines whether or not recording of data “A1” 7101A to thereplacement cluster at the location of PSN=s1 has succeeded (StepS1111).

If the recording has succeeded, the drive control section 311 generatesreplacement management information 7201 shown in FIG. 46B. If it hasfailed, the drive control section 311 records the data “A1” 7101A at aspecific location in the spare area.

Until data recording to the spare area succeeds, data recording to thespare area is repeated. Thus, the number of times of replacementrecording cannot be previously known.

Thus, in the case where the drive apparatus 310 receives one recordinginstruction from the host apparatus 305, the drive apparatus 310 mayperform replacement recording for a plurality of times. In such asituation, the replacement recording for the second time and thefollowing replacement recording are not expected by the host apparatus305.

As described in Embodiment 4 and the like, there is a problem that whenthe replacement recoding which is not expected by the host apparatus 305is performed by the drive apparatus, the size of replacement managementinformation list 1000 is increased.

In the present embodiment, when the replacement by the pseudo-overwriteis performed for the NWA of an open track and a verify error occurs; thesubsequent replacement recording is performed for the spare area.

In this way, the replacement recording in the user data area which isnot expected by the host apparatus 305 does not occur.

Thus, even when the host apparatus 305 continuously issues recordinginstructions, the size of the replacement management information listdoes not increase.

When the verify error occurs, by allocating the replacement location inthe spare area (not in the user data area), it is possible to reducetime required to determine the NWA.

If the replacement location is allocated in the user data area, it isnot determine the latest NWA until the verify process is successfullycompleted after the data is recorded at the NWA.

This is because the NWA must be updated repeatedly until the verifyprocess is successfully completed after the data is recorded at the NWA.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, the NWA isdetermined at the time when it is determined to perform thepseudo-overwrite recording. Thus, the drive apparatus 310 can return thelatest NWA to the host apparatus 305 without casing any time delay inresponse to a request from the host apparatus 305.

In the above description, an example in which track #M 7000 is an opentrack has been described. However, the track #M 7000 may be a closedtrack. Further, the location indicated by the recording instruction maybe included in the unrecorded area 7002. In either case, stepsS1118-S1111 shown in FIG. 43 are performed as described above.

In each of the embodiments, any of replacement management information1010 shown in FIG. 5B, replacement management information 1010B shown inFIG. 11, and DFL entry 2010 shown in FIG. 16 may be used as replacementmanagement information.

The replacement management information includes at least originallocation information 1012 (or, defective cluster first PSN 2012), andreplacement location information 1013 (or, replacement cluster first PSN2013).

Furthermore, irrespective of the purpose of the replacement (replacementdue to defectives, or replacement due to pseudo-overwrite), the samereplacement management information can be used. In this way, regardlessof the purpose of the replacement, and/or types and locations of thereplacement locations, the pseudo-overwrite recording method can berealized by the replacement management information having a single typestructure.

Thus, when data is reproduced from the information recording medium 100in which the data is pseudo-overwrite recorded, it becomes possible toreproduce data using the same process without paying attention to thepurpose of the replacement, and/or types and locations of replacementlocations. This enables the drive apparatus 310 to be readilyimplemented.

In the replacement location information 1013 (or, replacement clusterfirst PSN 2013) of the replacement management information, a physicaladdress which indicates a specific location of the user data area 108 isset when the replacement for the purpose of the pseudo-overwritingrecording occurs, and a physical address which indicates a specificlocation of the spare area (for example, inner spare area 106 or theouter spare area 107) is set when replacement for the purpose ofrecording due to defect occurs.

Therefore, a range of the physical address to be set in the replacementlocation information 1013 (or, replacement cluster first PSN 2013) ofthe replacement management information when the replacement for thepurpose of the pseudo-overwriting recording occurs is limited to a rangeof the user data area 108 (hereinafter, also referred to as a firstrange). Further, a range of the physical address set in the replacementlocation information 1013 (or, replacement cluster first PSN 2013) ofthe replacement management information when the replacement for thepurpose of recording due to defect occurs is limited to a range of thespare area (hereinafter, also referred to as a second range).

Thus, it is possible to generate replacement management informationhaving a single structure while maintaining information on the purposeof the replacement. The replacement management information can be usedfor the purpose of recovering an error when the error occurs inreproducing data from the replacement cluster.

When the replacement management information indicates the replacementfor the purpose of recording due to defect, it is determined that datawhich is the same as the data recorded in the replacement location isrecorded at the original location. By reproducing data from the originallocation, there is a possibility that correct data may be reproduced.When the correct data is reproduced, it is possible to avoid theoccurrence of a reproduction error.

Embodiment 8

In the present embodiment, a procedure for selecting recording locationof a replacement cluster in replacement recording will be described withreference to FIG. 47.

FIG. 47 shows exemplary spare area, track structure, states ofunrecorded area in the information recording medium 100 according to thepresent invention.

The information recording medium 100 includes an inner spare area 106,outer spare area 107 and unrecorded areas 601A and 601B thereof.

Further, information recording medium 100 includes track #1 8610 (open),track #2 8620 (open), and unrecorded areas 8612 and 8622 thereof.

Thus, the information recording medium 100 includes a plurality ofrecording locations of replacement clusters.

In the present embodiment, the user data area is preferentially used asrecording locations of the replacement clusters when the size of theunrecorded areas in the spare area satisfies predetermined criteria.

More specifically, for determining the recording locations of thereplacement clusters, the size of the unrecorded areas in the spare areaat the moment is obtained from disc structure information 1100.

Then, it is determined whether the size of the unrecorded area satisfiesa predetermined criterion.

If the size of the unrecorded are satisfies the criterion, the user dataarea is selected as the recording location.

The predetermined criterion is measured by, for example, whether thesize of the unrecorded area is below a predetermined size, whether thesize of the unrecorded area is below a certain percentage with respectto the total size of the spare area, or the like.

When there is no unrecorded area left in the user data area, the sparearea may be used as the recording location of a replacement cluster.

Such a replacement cluster is recorded at a location indicated by, forexample, next available location information 8600A in FIG. 47.

In general, in a file system such as UDF, specific information (forexample, a data structure called LVID) has to be updated when theinformation recording medium 100 is closed.

When there is no unrecorded area left in the user data area, user datacannot be added anymore. Thus, a closing process for the informationrecording medium 100 is performed.

According to the present embodiment, an unrecorded area is left in thespare area even in such a state. Thus, it is ensured that informationsuch as LVID is recorded.

On the contrary, if the spare area is used first, LVID cannot berecorded when the information recording medium 100 is closed. Thus, theclosing process becomes impossible.

In other words, one effect of the present invention is that the closingprocess can be performed surely.

Of course, the above description can be applied to both replacementrecording of defective clusters and pseudo-overwrite recording.

Embodiment 9

In the present embodiment, a procedure for selecting recording locationsof replacement clusters in replacement recording will be described withreference to FIG. 48.

In FIG. 48, original location 9650 is a defective cluster, andreplacement recording having the location as the original location isperformed.

At this time, the replacement location is determined by a followingprocedure.

In FIG. 48, the replacement locations in which replacement clusters canbe recorded are an unrecorded area 9601A (in the inner spare area 106),an unrecorded area 9612 (in a track 9610), an unrecorded area 9622 (in atrack 9620), and an unrecorded area 9601B (in the outer spare area 107).

In this example, a certain range from the spare area 106 is denoted byD1.

In the present embodiment, when the original location cluster is withinthe rage of D1, the replacement location is the inner spare area 106.

Similarly, a certain range from the outer spare area 107 is denoted byD4.

In the present embodiment, when the original location cluster is withinthe range of D4, the replacement location is the outer spare area 107.

The original location 9650 is at a distance of D2 from the inner sparearea 106. When D1>D2, the replacement location of the original location9650 is determined by the spare area 106.

At this time, the replacement cluster is recorded at a locationindicated by, for example, next available location information 9600Ashown in FIG. 48.

As the original location 9650, the unrecorded area 9612 can also beused. However, one of the features of the present invention is not usethe unrecorded area 9612 since the original location 9650 is within apredetermined range D1 from the inner spare area 106.

On the other hand, the original location 9651 of FIG. 48 is at adistance D3 from the inner spare area 106, and D1<D3. Thus, thereplacement location of the original location 9651 is not the innerspare area 106. Similarly, it is not replaced to the outer spare area107.

In this example, original location 9651 is replaced within the user dataarea, for example, the unrecorded area 9622 or the like. Specifically,even there is an unrecorded area in the inner spare area 106 or theouter spare area 107, it is not used if it does not satisfy theabove-described conditions regarding the range. This is one of thefeatures of the present embodiment.

With such a procedure for selecting replacement locations, a headerportion of a volume space is preferentially replaced to the inner sparearea 106, which is an inner part of the information recording medium100. Further, an end portion of the volume space is preferentiallyreplaced to the outer spare area 107, which is an outer part of theinformation recording medium 100.

In general, in a file system such as UDF, volume structures, informationwhich may be a starting point of directory structures (for example, FSD,ROOT directory and the like), space bit maps and the like are located inthe header and end of the volume space.

These data are often read first when the information recording medium100 is read out, and frequently accessed.

According to the present embodiment, these data are collectively locatedin the spare area. Thus, it becomes possible to improve therecording/reproduction property of the data.

In this embodiment, replacement recording of defective clusters has beendescribed. However, the above description can also be appliedpseudo-overwrite recording, which is also replacement recording.

Embodiment 10

In the present embodiment, the data recording procedure will be furtherdescribed.

FIG. 49A is a figure showing exemplary data structure of the informationrecording medium 100 before data recording according to the presentembodiment is performed.

In FIG. 49A, track #N−1 10000 and track #N 10010 are allocated. In thetrack #N 10010, entire area is an unrecorded area 10003. Further, thetrack #N 10010 is located at the end of the user data area.

In a conventional recording method, a new track can be allocated at anylocation only in a track which is located at the end of user data areasuch as track #N 10010.

In the state of FIG. 49A, the host apparatus 305 is assumed to instructthe drive apparatus 310 to record data “B” 10820.

In such a state, when the data “B” 10820 is instructed to be written to

LSN=A2 (PSN=a2) in a conventional recording method by sequentialrecording, dummy data is recorded to immediately before PSN=a2, and thenthe data “B” 10820 is recorded.

Data can be recorded in this method, but there is a problem that thecapacity of the information recording medium 100 is wasted by recordingdummy data. Particularly, when PSN=a2 is close to the end of the userdata area, a very large area of the user data area is wasted.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 50A, a part of the track #N 10010 may beadded as a track #N+1 10020, and then the data “B” 10820 is recordedfrom the header of the track #N+1 10020.

In this case, the user data area is not wasted, but since the track isallocated to the end of the user data area, there is a problem thatfurther addition of tracks becomes impossible.

Thus, in the present embodiment, these problems are solved by employingthe following recording method.

When a recording instruction is issued for a physical address largerthan NWA in a track in which a new track can be added, the data isrecorded in a replacement cluster.

Then, replacement management information 1010, which has the physicalcluster which is specified by the recording instruction as the originallocation, and the replacement cluster to which recording is actuallyperformed as the replacement location, is generated.

For example, FIG. 51A shows exemplary data structure in which thereplacement location is the outer spare management area 107.

In FIG. 51A, data “B” 10820B is recorded in the outer spare area 107. Onthe other hand, data is not recorded at the location of PSN=a2 in thetrack #N 10010, i.e., the location specified by the recordinginstruction from the host apparatus 305. Thus, LRA 10030A is notupdated.

At this time, in replacement management information 10817 to begenerated, as shown in FIG. 51B, PSN=a2 is set in the original locationinformation 1012, and PSN=s2 is set in replacement location information1013.

As described above, PSN=a2 corresponds to the location which isspecified by the recording instruction from host apparatus 305. On theother hand, PSN=s2 is the location where the data “B” 10820 is actuallyrecorded in the outer spare area 107.

By generating such replacement management information 10817, it becomespossible to reproduce the data “B” 10820 from PSN=s2 when the hostapparatus 305 issues a reproduction instruction to LSN=A2.

Similarly, in FIG. 52A, data “B” 10820C is recorded at a location of NWA10011A of the track #N−1 10000 which can be recorded. In accordance withsuch recording, LRA 10010A is updated to LRA 10010C.

In such a state, in replacement management information 10818 to begenerated, as shown in FIG. 52B, PSN=a2 is set in the original locationinformation 1012, and PSN=b1 (a physical address corresponding to NWA611A) is set in the replacement location information 1013.

Further, since the logical cluster corresponding to PSN=b1 becomes anunrecorded cluster, replacement management information 10819, which hasPSN=b1 set in the original location information 1012 and 0 set inreplacement location information 1013, may be provided.

By generating such replacement management information 10818, it becomespossible to reproduce the data “B” 10820C from PSN=b1 when the hostapparatus 305 issues a reproduction instruction to LSN=A2.

By reproducing replacement management information 10819, it becomespossible to return data of, for example, all 0, without reproducing thedata “B” when the host apparatus 305 issues a reproduction instructionto LSN corresponding to PSN=b1.

In both examples shown in FIGS. 51A and 52A, an area used in theinformation recording medium 100 corresponds to the size of the data “B”10802 which is instructed to be written, and ineffective recording ofdummy data or the like is not necessary.

Further, since data is recorded without adding a new track, furtheraddition of a track to the track #N 10010 can be performed withoutrestraint.

As described above, in a track in which a new track can be added, evenwhen data is instructed to be written in a location having an addresslarger than NWA, it is possible to perform data recording which does notcause a recording error, is efficient, and does not prohibit the lateraddition of a new track, by performing replacement recording usingreplacement management information.

Further, FIG. 53A is a illustrative diagram showing a data structurewhen data is further recorded to track #N 10010 from the state as shownin FIG. 52A, recorded area 10840 is formed, and then, data “C” 10842 isrecorded in an ECC cluster (PSN=c1) immediately before PSN=a2.

In this example, a verify process after recording of data “C” 10842detects that the ECC cluster of PSN=c1 is a defective cluster 10841. Asa result, the data “C” 10842A is recorded in an ECC cluster of PNS=a2instead of the ECC Cluster of PSN=c1.

In order to reflect such replacement recording, the replacementmanagement information 10820 shown in FIG. 53B is provided. The originallocation of the replacement management information 10820 is PSN=c1, andthe replacement location is PSN=a2.

In the state as shown in FIG. 52A, data is not recorded at PNS=a2.However, as shown in FIG. 53A, after sequential data is recorded bysequential recording, data is recorded in such areas, and the user dataarea can be effectively used.

Embodiment 11

In the present embodiment, the data recording procedure will be furtherdescribed.

In conformity to UDF specification, the recording procedure will bedescribed with reference to an exemplary process of a format process forfile systems will be described.

FIG. 54 is a diagram showing an exemplary correspondence between alogical address space and a physical address when replacement recordingis not performed.

FIG. 54 also shows location of data included in a volume structure area410 defined by the UDF specification.

A format process for file systems refer to a process of recordingmanagement information including data of these volume structure area410, metadata files 440 within a partition space, and the like.

Conventionally, the file system first generates the file managementinformation by a memory circuit 302 or the like with assuming the stateas shown in FIG. 54, and then record in the information recording medium100.

When recording is actually performed, for example, as shown in FIG. 55,a defective cluster may occur halfway, and replacement recording may beperformed.

In accordance with such replacement recording, all the subsequent datahas to be recorded at the replacement location.

This increases the size of the replacement management information list1000.

One of the methods to avoid such a situation is to perform replacementrecording of the defective cluster at PSN=1292 to the spare area.

However, the volume structure area 410 and/or metadata file 440 have tobe read first in order to access the user data in the informationrecording medium 100.

If such data are dispersed in the spare area, it takes a long time forstarting reproduction of the user data, which results in inconveniencefor users.

Another method for avoiding is to change the data in the file managementinformation, and change the logical address of the recording location.More specifically, when the recording location is shifted due toreplacement recording, the amount of shift is adsorbed by changing therecording location of the file management information. Thus, it is nolonger necessary to perform replacement recording.

However, for performing such a process, it is required to generate thefile management information which has been established at the start ofthe format process again. This makes the file system more complicatedand increases the process time.

Thus, in the present embodiment, these problems are solved by thefollowing recording method.

As shown in FIG. 56, when data included in the volume structure area 410is recorded, a predetermined number of reserved clusters 9000 arereserved between an anchor volume descriptor pointer 703 and the rest ofthe data, and performs the format process for the file system.

In the reserved clusters 9000, valid data is not recorded at initialstate. However, they are used as replacement clusters when there is afailure in the verify process when the volume structure area 410 isrecorded.

In the present embodiment, a volume recognition sequence 700, a mainvolume descriptor sequence 701 and a logical volume integrity sequence702 are sequentially recorded by a verify-after-recording process.

When there is a failure in the verify process, replacement recording isperformed to a reserved cluster 11000.

In FIG. 56, for example, PSN=1132 is a defective cluster, and itsreplacement location is at PSN=1164. Subsequently, replacement recordingof the logical volume integrity sequence 702 is also performed. However,by reserving a plurality of the reserved clusters 11000, anchor volumedescriptor pointer 703 and the following partition space 710 can berecorded at PSN=1356 without shifting the recording locations.

Further, in the present embodiment, backup recording of the anchorvolume descriptor pointer 703 is performed in the reserved cluster11000.

Backup recording of the anchor volume descriptor pointer 703 is torecord the data having the same contents as the anchor volume descriptorpointer 703 before the actual recording of the anchor volume descriptorpointer 703.

In FIG. 56, recording to PSN=1292 and 1324 is backup recording.

Effects of performing backup recording are as follows.

If the recording of the anchor volume descriptor pointer 703 to thePSN=1356 fails, replacement recording is required.

At this point, if the replacement management information 1010 whichdesignates PSN=1292 or 1324 which has been backup-recorded as thereplacement location is generated, anchor volume descriptor pointer 703is recorded at the replacement location, and any address shift is causedfrom PSN=1356.

As for the file management information, the replacement location and theoriginal location are very close, and access time for reproduction canbe reduced.

Further reserved cluster 11000 may be provided between the anchor volumedescriptor pointer 703 and the header of the partition space 710.

As described above, the present embodiment can realize a fast access tothe file management information, and further prevent replacementmanagement information 1010 from occurring in the format process of thefile system in conformity to the UDF specification.

Special replacement management information 1010 for associating thereserved cluster 11000 to a specific recorded cluster may be defined.

More specifically, new flag which indicates that it is specialreplacement information may be provided in status information 1011 ofreplacement management information 1010.

Then, PSN of recorded cluster is set in the original locationinformation 1012. On the other hand, PSN of the reserved cluster 11000is set in the replacement location information 1013.

For example, association of unrecorded reserved cluster 11001 to thelogical volume integrity sequence 702 at PSN=1196 becomes possible.

For this unrecorded cluster, data is allowed to be recorded only whenpseudo-overwrite recording of the recorded cluster associated by thereplacement management information 1010 is performed.

With such an association, pseudo-overwrite recording of a certainrecorded cluster in future is ensured.

For example, the logical volume integrity sequence 702 has to berecorded at last in the information recording medium 100 formatted inaccordance with the UDF specification.

Therefore, by associating the specific recorded cluster and the reservedcluster, the pseudo-overwrite recording thereof is ensured.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is useful, since it provides a drive apparatus andthe like capable of utilizing the user data area without any loss in thepseudo-overwrite recording for the write-once optical disc.

1. A drive apparatus for performing a pseudo-overwrite recording for awrite-once recording medium, wherein the write-once recording mediumincludes a spare area and a user data area, at least one track areallocated in the user data area, the drive apparatus comprising: arecording/reproduction section for performing a recording operation or areproduction operation for the write-once recording medium; and a drivecontrol section for controlling the recording/reproduction section,wherein the drive control section performs a process including:receiving a recording instruction including a location at which data isto be recorded; determining a track among at least one trackscorresponding to the location included in the recording instruction;controlling the recording/reproduction section to record data at areplacement location in the user data area instead of the locationincluded in the recording instruction; determining whether or not therecording of the data at the replacement location in the user data areahas succeeded; and when the recording of the data at the replacementlocation in the user data area has failed, controlling therecording/reproduction section to record the data at a location in thespare area.
 2. A drive apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drivecontrol section performs a process further including: determiningwhether or not the recording of the data at the location in the sparearea has succeeded; and when the recording of the data at the locationin the spare area has failed, controlling the recording/reproductionsection to record the data in the spare area until the recording of thedata in the spare area has succeeded.
 3. A drive apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the determined track is an open track.
 4. A driveapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determined track is a closedtrack having an unrecorded area.
 5. (canceled)
 6. (canceled)